Amoeblog > 2008-07 Archivehttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/index.html
Amoeblog Archive - 2008-07 ArchiveNight Of The Juggler Saturday Midnight At The New Beverly<img src="http://www.amoeba.com/dynamic-images/content/new-beverly/myspace-logo.jpg" alt="" />
<p><font size="+1">Amoeba Music and Phil Blankenship are proud to present some of our film favorites at Los Angeles&rsquo; last full-time revival movie theater. See movies the way they're meant to be seen - on the big screen and with an audience!</font></p>
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<img width="200" align="right" src="http://a812.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/93/l_8d10c8204fee963637707ed49cc3d1c3.jpg" alt="" /> </font></p>
<p><font size="+1"><u>Saturday August 2</u></font></p>
<p><font size="+1"> James Brolin in</font></p>
<p><u><font size="+2">Night Of The Juggler</font></u></p>
<p><font size="+1">1980, 101 min </font></p>
<p><font size="+1"> New Beverly Cinema <br />
7165 W Beverly Blvd <br />
Los Angeles, CA 90036 <br />
Midnight, $7</font></p>
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<font size="+1"><u>August</u><br />
August 2 Night Of The Juggler</font><br />
(No one can stop James Brolin!)<br />
<font size="+1">August 9 Rainbow Brite &amp; The Star Stealer</font><br />
(Rainbow Brite's first movie - insanely RARE performance!)<br />
<font size="+1">August 23 The Gate</font><br />
(... pray it's not too late!)<br />
<font size="+1">August 30 Little Darlings</font><br />
(Paramount Archive 35mm Print! Rare Screening!)
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<p><font size="+1"><u>September</u><br />
September 6 Idle Hands</font><br />
(9th anniversary for the 1999 stoner horror comedy!)<br />
<font size="+1">September 13 Showgirls</font><br />
(Beyond your wildest dreams. Beyond your wildest fantasies!)<br />
<font size="+1">September 20 Michael Mann's The Keep</font><br />
(25th Anniversary! Paramount Archive 35mm Print!)<br />
<font size="+1">September 27 Over The Top</font><br />
(Sylvester Stallone. Big Rig Truckin'. ARM WRESTLING!)</p>
<p><font size="+1"><u>October</u><br />
October 4 Hard To Kill</font><br />
(Steven Seagal is Mason Storm. Mason Storm is... Hard To Kill!)<br />
<font size="+1">October 18 All Night Horror Show!</font><br />
(100% Movie Mania! New Bev Fundraiser! 12 Hours Of Movies, Fun &amp; ??)</p><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/night-of-the-juggler-saturday-midnight-at-the-new-beverly.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/night-of-the-juggler-saturday-midnight-at-the-new-beverly.html
Fri, 01 Aug 2008 03:01:40 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/night-of-the-juggler-saturday-midnight-at-the-new-beverly.htmlout today 7/22 & 7/29...neil halstead...dead can dance...I still can&#39;t believe that summer has already started. I am sure that it will be over even quicker. Soon it<img align="right" alt="conor-oberst" height="299" hspace="8" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Brad/conoroberst.jpg" style="border: 3px solid grey;" vspace="8" width="300" /> will be Christmas time again. The year is a little more than half over and I have been back in Los Angeles for about 6 months now. The boyfriend just moved down last week and it has been a busy couple of weeks for me, but it has been a bit slow for the new releases the last couple of months. Some big things are right around the corner for the next couple of weeks, but not so much for this week or the last. Last week was the week of the debut album for the <strong>Black Kids</strong> and the release of the second album by <strong>CSS.</strong> There was another <strong>Nine Inch Nails</strong> album and a new <strong>Dr. Dog</strong>.<br />
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This week is basically a new <strong>Neil Halstead</strong> album and a new one by <strong>Rick Springfield</strong>. Not a very big week. I am a huge fan of both Slowdive and Mojave 3, so I am a bit excited about the new Neil Halstead, but I have not yet heard it. Next week we get new albums from both <strong>The Faint </strong>and <strong>Conor Oberst </strong>from <strong>Bright Eyes</strong>. They both were on the label Saddle Creek Records up until these new albums. Bright Eyes put out a ton of albums on Saddle Creek and helped to make a name for the label, but he has made the jump to Merge Records for his new solo album. The Faint decid<a href="http://www.amoeba.com/live-shows/calendars.html" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="dead-can-dance" height="254" hspace="8" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Brad/deadcandance.jpg" style="border: 3px solid grey;" vspace="8" width="250" /></a>ed to go with their own new label for this new album. Conor is one of those guys you either love or hate. Most people I know have some passionate opinion about him. I know I have talked about this before. I was on the hating side for a bit, but crossed over to the fan side about 4 years ago. <a href="http://www.amoeba.com/live-shows/calendars.html" target="_blank">Conor Oberst will also be playing a free show at<strong> </strong>Amoeba in both San Francisco and Hollywood.</a> The Hollywood instore is this coming Monday, August 4th. We will also be selling the album the day before it comes out since the actual street date is the day after the instore. He is playing at the San Francisco store 3 days before the album comes out, on Saturday August 2nd. There will be tons of people at both these instores, but I think it is worth dealing with the crowds just to see him perform live. It might convert you to a fan as well.<br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/pen-is-mightier-than-the-sword/out-today-7-22-7-29-neil-halstead-dead-can-dance-.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/pen-is-mightier-than-the-sword/out-today-7-22-7-29-neil-halstead-dead-can-dance-.html
Thu, 31 Jul 2008 21:45:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/pen-is-mightier-than-the-sword/out-today-7-22-7-29-neil-halstead-dead-can-dance-.htmlEIGHT DAYS TO EIGHT EIGHT EIGHT (08:08:08)<img align="left" alt="boredoms" border="white" height="308" hspace="8" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/759166020_244570abdd.jpg" title="Boredoms drumming event last July 7th in Brooklyn." vspace="8" width="410" /><br />
It is exactly 8 days to 8-8-8 (aka August 8th, 2008), when many noteworthy events are scheduled to take place, including, of course, the kick off of the <a href="http://en.beijing2008.cn/schedule/">Olympics in Beijing</a> and such lesser publicized events as<a href="http://www.worldhoopday.com/"> World Hoop Day</a>. 8-8-8 is also the date for the <strong>Boredoms</strong>&#39; <em><strong>88BoaDrum</strong></em> show.<br />
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This free large scale drumming concert, which takes place in LA.&#39;s <strong>Hancock Park,</strong> is scheduled to start at exactly 8:08PM next Friday (August 8th). The show is a sequel to last July 7th&#39;s <em><strong>77BoaDrum</strong></em> celebration in Brooklyn, NY. As you probably already know from reading <a href="http://www.amoeba.com/dynamic-images/BoredomsGreen.pdf">this website</a>, the event will feature a total of 88 drummers performing for 88 minutes. As you also most likely know if you are an Amoeba fan, two weeks ago the Hollywood store gave away a chunk of tickets for this big, free (but so in demand that the free tix became a<img align="right" alt="" height="191" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/beijing-olympics-2008.jpg" vspace="8" width="250" /> premium) event. Check out the blog I did on last year&#39;s <a href="http://www.amoeba.com/blog/2007/07/jamoeblog/boredoms-let-the-drummers-get-wicked-all-77-of-them.html">77BoaDrum</a>.<br />
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Another music-related event scheduled for 8-8-8 at exactly 8 o&#39;clock is when <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genesis_P-Orridge" target="_blank"><strong>Genesis P-Orridge</strong></a> of <strong>Psychic TV</strong> has announced that he/she will have the final surgery in the ongoing series of gender reassignment operations in the unique <strong>Pandrogeny</strong> <strong>Project</strong> (<a href="http://www.theesecondcouming.com/">a love story of gender reunion</a>), that he/she and his/her late partner/collaborator <strong>Lady Jaye,</strong> who tragically died suddenly late last year, were going through together -- essentially a process whereby they were attempting to become one and the same person, or as close to it as physically/mentally possible.<br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/eight-days-to-eight-eight-eight-08-08-08-.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/eight-days-to-eight-eight-eight-08-08-08-.html
Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:55:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/eight-days-to-eight-eight-eight-08-08-08-.htmlBud Browne 1912 - 2008<p><img align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/bud1-1.jpg" style="border: 8px solid white;" alt="" /><br />
Last week &lsquo;the father of <strong>surf films</strong>,&rsquo; <strong>Bud &quot;Barracuda&quot; Browne</strong>, the onetime lifeguard who began showing his 16-millimeter movies commercially in the early 1950&rsquo;s, died in his sleep at his home in San Luis Obispo. He was 96. <br />
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Born July 12th, 1912, in Newtonville, Massachusetts, Browne began swimming competitively at age seven. He attended USC, was captain of the swim team and in 1933 ranked second in the nation as a collegiate swimmer. While working as a lifeguard at <strong>Venice Beach</strong> in late thirties, Browne was introduced to surfing. In 1938 he went to Hawaii to ride the big waves in <strong>Waikiki</strong>, taking along an 8-millimeter movie camera to film the local surfers. One his first and most prized reels of film recorded the legendary king of the surfers <strong>Duke Kahanamoku</strong>. <br />
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During World War II, Browne served as a navy chief specialist in athletics (earning the nickname &quot;Barracuda&quot; for his long lean look). Following the war he became a teacher in Los Angeles, working as a middle-school physical education instructor and also attended USC Film School. He upgraded his camera to a 16-millimeter Bell &amp; Howell. In 1953, after spending several years filming surfers in Hawaii, Browne pieced together enough footage to compile a 45-minute film. <em><strong>Hawaiian Surfing Movie</strong></em> debuted at John Adams Middle School in Santa Monica. <br />
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Browne eventually gave up his teaching gig and took to chronicling the 1950&rsquo;s surf scene full time, releasing at least one movie a year between 1953 and 1964. With films such as <em><strong>Trek to Makaha</strong></em>, <em><strong>The Big Surf</strong></em>, <em><strong>Surf Down Under</strong></em>, <em><strong>Cavalcade of Surf</strong></em>, <em><strong>Locked In</strong></em>&nbsp;and <em><strong>Gun Ho!</strong></em>, Browne documented all the surfing greats of the longboard era, like Phil Edwards, Buzzy Trent, Greg Noll, Miki Dora, Linda Benson<img align="right" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/bud2-1.jpg" style="border: 8px solid white;" alt="" /> and Dewey Weber, plus the first-generation of shortboard riders, like David Nuuhiwa, Nat Young and Gerry Lopez. In addition to completing nearly 20 of his own films, he also contributed footage to other projects such as <em><strong>Big Wednesday,</strong></em> directed by John Milius, Greg McGillivray/Jim Freeman&rsquo;s <em><strong>Waves of Change</strong></em> (also known as <em><strong>The Sunshine Sea</strong></em>) and their 1972 classic <em><strong>Five Summer Stories</strong></em>. In the early 1990&rsquo;s Browne began re-editing some of his earlier efforts. The first project, <em><strong>Surfing the 50's</strong></em>, honed his best color footage from the eight films he produced during the fifties. That success led to re-releasing some of his other movies such as the 1963 classic, <em>Gun Ho!.</em><br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/the-thing-of-a-thing-of-a-thing-/bud-browne-1912-2008.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/the-thing-of-a-thing-of-a-thing-/bud-browne-1912-2008.html
Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:32:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/the-thing-of-a-thing-of-a-thing-/bud-browne-1912-2008.htmlJuly 30, 2008<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/xfiles2ticket.jpg" alt="X Files I Want To Believe movie ticket stub" /><br />
<img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/xfiles2pic1.jpg" alt="Mann Chinese 6 Marquee X Files I Want To Believe" /><br />
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<img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/xfiles2pic2.jpg" alt="Mann Chinese 6 auditorium" /><br />
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<img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/xfiles2pic3.jpg" alt="Mann Chinese 6 screen" /><br />
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<img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/xfiles2pic4.jpg" alt="Mann Chinese 6 logo" /></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/july-30-2008.html
Wed, 30 Jul 2008 22:55:47 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/july-30-2008.htmlEnzo G. Castellari, Fred Williamson and Bo Svenson at New Beverly TONIGHT!Tonight only, director <strong>Enzo G. Castellari</strong> will be appearing at the New Beverly Cinema to introduce his films <strong>THE INGLORIOUS BASTARDS</strong> and <strong>BATTLE SQUADRON</strong> and do a Q&amp;A during the intermission. As an incredible added bonus, THE INGLORIOUS BASTARDS stars <strong>Fred Williamson</strong> and <strong>Bo Svenson</strong> will be joining Castellari for the introduction and Q&amp;A!
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<div>Castellari is one of our favorite directors, having created westerns like <strong>KEOMA</strong> and <strong>KILL THEM ALL AND COME BACK ALONE</strong>, crime films like <strong>STREET LAW</strong> and <strong>THE BIG RACKET</strong>, giallos like <strong>COLD EYES OF FEAR</strong>, post-apocalypse hits like <strong>1990: THE BRONX WARRIORS</strong>, and the hard-to-see killer shark film <strong>GREAT WHITE</strong>. He's flown in from Italy to join the New Beverly crowd for an amazing night, and it's also his 70th birthday so be sure to wish him well when you see him.</div>
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<div>DO NOT MISS THIS EVENT!</div>
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<div>The event starts at 7:30pm, and admission for the two features plus a reel of rare Castellari trailers is only $7.00. This is a regular New Beverly Cinema event that we're just helping with, so theater discount cards and student/senior discounts also apply!</div>
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<div>As an added bonus, there will be some amazing prizes and freebies courtesy of Severin Films, who have just released a beautiful 3-disc DVD special edition of THE INGLORIOUS BASTARDS. Check them out on our top friends on MySpace, and also at <a href="http://www.severin-films.com/">www.severin-films.com</a>.</div>
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<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Wednesday &bull; July 30th, 2008</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Tribute to Enzo G. Castellari</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>New Beverly Cinema</div>
<div>7165 Beverly Boulevard</div>
<div>Los Angeles, CA 90036</div>
<div>(323) 938-4038</div>
<div>Admission: $7.00</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Special Guests: Enzo G. Castellari, Fred Williamson and Bo Svenson</div>
<div>(other special guests also expected to be in attendance)</div>
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<div>7:30pm &nbsp;THE INGLORIOUS BASTARDS (1978)</div>
<div>Directed by Enzo G. Castellari</div>
<div>Starring Bo Svenson, Fred Williamson, Peter Hooten, Michael Pergolani, Jackie Basehart, Michel Constantin and Ian Bannen.</div>
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<div>10:00pm &nbsp;BATTLE SQUADRON (1969)</div>
<div>Directed by Enzo G. Castellari</div>
<div>Starring Frederick Stafford, Van Johnson, Francisco Rabal, Ida Galli and Luigi Pistilli</div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/enzo-g-castellari-fred-williamson-and-bo-svenson-at-new-beverly-tonight-.html
Wed, 30 Jul 2008 20:21:17 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/enzo-g-castellari-fred-williamson-and-bo-svenson-at-new-beverly-tonight-.htmlBUILDING YOUR OWN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS<img vspace="8" hspace="8" border="white" align="left" alt="" title="bring that beat back" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/pork_rind_jar01.jpg" /><br />
The one clear message from the always fun annual <strong>Bay Area Maker Faire</strong> a couple of months back was that we, a society weaned on consumerism, need to shake the shackles of dependency on corporations who sell us products shrewdly manufactured with a built-in obsolescence -- products whose mechanisms are deliberately made difficult to figure out.<br />
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To hell with that! We should not have to always hire others to fix our cars, fridges, vacuum cleaners, lawn-mowers, bikes, computers, etc., etc. when they (inevitably) break down.<br />
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Instead, we should learn all we can about the products we own and use daily. Furthermore, we should not only know how to fix these things when they break down but we should also know how to build our own things from scratch. DIY baby!<br />
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Of all the homemade items that people create, the most inspiring to me are homemade musical instruments created out of found parts. These can range from the most simple (an empty pork rinds bottle with a rubber band &amp; piece of cloth tied on top as a drum) to the most intricate (an electronic keyboard built from found odds and ends). <br />
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Over the years I have seen/heard many great variations on all types of instruments, from string to wind to electric and I thought it was time to do an Amoeblog about them, drawing from videos I found on <strong>YouTube</strong>, where I even discovered an interactive thread on making your own instruments, which includes perhaps one of the most popular one among music instrument makers-- the cigar box guitar. <br />
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One is from the recent Memorial Day observed <strong>Morningside Build Your Own Instrument Day</strong> in Pittsburg, PA, featuring <strong>Jim Lingo</strong>'s creative string instrument, which drew equal parts awe and amusement from those at the outdoor event. Then there is the homemade electric bass by <strong>KgldMond</strong> who built his instrument from a piece of wood, an old turntable, and a string. Finally, there is <strong>CrazyEzra</strong>'s nice noise maker constructed out of a saw, a pick up and a big purple synth modulator.<img width="380" vspace="8" hspace="8" height="249" border="white" align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Altmann_turntable.jpg" alt="homemade turntable" title="Homemade turntable" /><br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/building-your-own-musical-instruments.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/building-your-own-musical-instruments.html
Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:10:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/building-your-own-musical-instruments.htmlPt. 2 Bad Boys At Nite<a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/whatyoudontknow.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="174" width="173" vspace="5" align="left" alt="twisted sister under the blade lp cover" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/whatyoudontknow.jpg" style="border: 2px solid black;" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/brickwall.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="174" width="173" vspace="5" alt="Burning Sensations Belly of the Whale Lp cover" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/brickwall.jpg" style="border: 2px solid black;" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/cinderella.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="174" width="172" vspace="5" alt="Cinderella Night Songs Lp cover" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/cinderella.jpg" style="border: 2px solid black;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/needsabath.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="171" width="173" vspace="5" align="left" alt="Girls Wasted Youth LP cover" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/needsabath.jpg" style="border: 2px solid black;" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/fakesmoke.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="171" width="172" vspace="5" alt="Alibi Friends LP cover" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/fakesmoke.jpg" style="border: 2px solid black;" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/girl.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="4" height="171" width="175" vspace="5" alt="Girls Wasted Youth Album cover" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/girl.jpg" style="border: 2px solid black;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/karateuniform.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="169" width="176" vspace="5" align="left" alt="Hollywood Stars Lp cover Kim Fowley" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/karateuniform.jpg" style="border: 2px solid black;" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/outofbail.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="169" width="173" vspace="5" alt="Legs Diamond Out On Bail Lp cover" style="border: 2px solid black;" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/outofbail.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/dangerzone.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="4" height="169" width="171" vspace="5" alt="Player Danger Zone Lp cover" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/dangerzone.jpg" style="border: 2px solid black;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/boydont.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="173" width="177" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/boydont.jpg" style="border: 2px solid black;" alt="Boys don't cry Lp cover I Wanna Be A Cowboy" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/sumuwrestler.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="173" width="166" vspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/sumuwrestler.jpg" style="border: 2px solid black;" alt="Sex Tiger bad boys of rock and roll lp cover" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/nicehouse....jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="173" width="176" vspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/nicehouse....jpg" style="border: 2px solid black;" alt="Thunder Backstreet Symphony LP cover " /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/thunder-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="170" vspace="5" align="left" alt="Thunder Backstreet Symphony Album cover " src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/thunder-1.jpg" style="border: 2px solid black;" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/witnesses-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="170" width="174" vspace="5" align="left" alt="Witnesses Scene of the Crime LP cover" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/witnesses-1.jpg" style="border: 2px solid black;" /></a><br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/the-gone-world/pt-2-bad-boys-at-nite.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/the-gone-world/pt-2-bad-boys-at-nite.html
Wed, 30 Jul 2008 05:25:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/the-gone-world/pt-2-bad-boys-at-nite.html(In which we consider the mystical & tragic Judee Sill.)<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Job/thief.jpg" alt="robber" /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Last night I was mugged at gunpoint. The perpetrator not only made off with the $560.00 in cash that I was carrying (which I had intended to deposit today) but he knocked me down to the ground and kicked me hard enough that he left a nasty bruise in my ribs before he made his getaway on a magic, chocolate-colored Pegasus.<br />
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None of which is true, but it is a rather exciting way to begin this week&rsquo;s blog entry, isn&rsquo;t it? Except that, by lying to you, I have now risked alienating you emotionally, because you will now think twice about trusting what I tell you, even if it&rsquo;s about how much I like that top you&rsquo;re wearing and how to sets off the flecks of color in your shimmering eyes.<br />
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Speaking of violence and the romantic visage of your enduring beauty, I know some of you haven&rsquo;t yet heeded my advice and investigated one of my most favorite balladeers of all time: <strong>Judee Sill</strong>.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Job/judeesill.jpg" alt="Judee Sill" /><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Judee Sill conducts herself well.</span></div>
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Judee&rsquo;s story is one of tragic darkness, from which sprung gorgeous and sage songwriting. She was the Billie Holiday of the &ldquo;Laurel Canyon sound.&rdquo;<br />
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Influenced more by Johann Sebastian Bach than her 1970&rsquo;s rock &lsquo;n&rsquo; blow contemporaries, methodical composition such as fugue-structure, and over-dubbing of her own voice into chorale-style, inform her heart-wrenched post-hymns.<br />
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Her father and brother both died when she was a child, and her mother re-married to Kenneth Muse, an animator for one of my least favorite cartoons of all time, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A33Xh08brZs"><em>Tom &amp; Jerry</em></a>. (I mean really, the way that mouse antagonizes that poor cat, who very naturally fights back &ndash; both by his nature as a <em>felis catus</em> and in defense of Jerry&rsquo;s cruelty &ndash; only to be downtrodden every time. What kind of message does that send to children? BE A BULLY. That&rsquo;s what it tells &lsquo;em. And then poor, sensitive, fat kids like me get the brunt of it. And all I ever wanted was to love and be loved. Is that so wrong?!)<br />
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[Insert sound of Job sobbing here]<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Job/judeesill-1.jpg" alt="Judee Sill" /></div>
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Judee left her dysfunctional home (I imagine her stepfather probably lured her head into a mouse-hole and bopped her face with a mallet) and hit the road for a life of free-wheeling druggery and armed robbery. She developed an addiction to that precocious li&rsquo;l drug we call heroin. In order to pay for the habit, she prostituted herself (which almost certainly prepared her for a life as a professional musician).<br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/another-witty-and-unnecessary-blog/-in-which-we-consider-the-mystical-tragic-judee-sill-.html">Continue reading...</a></div></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/another-witty-and-unnecessary-blog/-in-which-we-consider-the-mystical-tragic-judee-sill-.html
Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:25:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/another-witty-and-unnecessary-blog/-in-which-we-consider-the-mystical-tragic-judee-sill-.htmlJuly 28, 2008<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/stepbrothersticket.jpg" alt="Step Brothers Movie Ticket Stub" /><br />
We used our free ticket (above) to see a different movie (below).<br />
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<img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/stepbrotherspic1.jpg" alt="Step Brothers End Title " /><br />
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<img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/stepbrotherspic2.jpg" alt="Step Brothers End Title Jud Apatow" /><br />
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<img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/stepbrotherspic3.jpg" alt="Mann Glendale 4 Marketplace" /></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/july-28-2008.html
Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:00:21 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/july-28-2008.htmlTed Mikels' THE DOLL SQUAD with guest Francine York TONIGHT!The Grindhouse Film Festival returns to the New Beverly Cinema TONIGHT with a special <strong>Ted V. Mikels</strong> double-feature. We&#39;ll be screening Ted&#39;s film <strong>THE DOLL SQUAD</strong> and will have star <strong>Francine York</strong> (<strong>THE CENTERFOLD GIRLS</strong>, <strong>CURSE OF THE SWAMP CREATURE</strong>, <strong>CITY BENEATH THE SEA</strong>, and a ton of TV appearances) in attendance to introduce the film and do a Q&amp;A afterwards. This film, also starring Michael Ansara, Anthony Eisley and the incredible Tura Satana, was the uncredited inspiration for the original CHARLIE&#39;S ANGELS TV show and should not be missed. Following THE DOLL SQUAD will be a second, surprise Ted V. Mikels film.<br style="display: none;" />
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The event starts at 7:30pm, and admission for the two features plus a reel of rare exploitation trailers and our world-famous free raffle is still only $8.00.<br style="display: none;" />
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For additional information and schedules for upcoming events, visit our MySpace page at <a href="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3Lm15c3BhY2UuY29tL2dyaW5kaG91c2U=">www.myspace.com/grindhouse</a>.<br style="display: none;" />
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Tuesday &bull; July 29th, 2008<br />
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<a href="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3Lm15c3BhY2UuY29tL25ld2JldmVybHljaW5lbWE=" target="_blank">NEW BEVERLY CINEMA</a><br />
7165 Beverly Boulevard<br />
Los Angeles, CA 90036<br />
(323) 938-4038<br />
Admission: $8.<br style="display: none;" />
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Tribute to Ted V. Mikels<br />
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Special Guest: Francine York<br />
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7:30pm <a href="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LmltZGIuY29tL3RpdGxlL3R0MDA2OTk4Ni8=" target="_blank">THE DOLL SQUAD (1973)</a><br />
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Directed by Ted V. Mikels<br />
Starring Michael Ansara, Francine York, Anthony Eisley, Tura Satana and John Carter<br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/ted-mikels-the-doll-squad-with-guest-francine-york-tonight-.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/ted-mikels-the-doll-squad-with-guest-francine-york-tonight-.html
Tue, 29 Jul 2008 18:41:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/ted-mikels-the-doll-squad-with-guest-francine-york-tonight-.htmlDAVID BYRNE'S FREE NYC "PLAYING THE BUILDING" INSTALLATION&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img align="middle" alt="David Byrne's Playing The Building installation, NYC" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/DavidByrne01.jpg" title="Little girl plays the big building." /><br />
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LA and San Francisco may be offering a lot of really good free entertainment this summer, but New York City tops both of them with a richly varied, non-stop offering of entertainment to choose from all summer long: much of it stuff that you would happily pay to see, from great concerts to cool exhibits. Topping this list is <strong>David Byrne</strong>'s <strong><em>Playing The Building</em></strong> (Friday, Saturday, Sunday Noon to 6PM) at the <strong>Battery Maritime Building</strong> (10 South St.), which has been extended through August 24th. If you are making a visit to NYC by then, make time in your schedule to include this hands-on sound exhibit. <br />
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As explained by the former <strong>Talking Heads </strong>member in the video below, the idea for this unique installation came about after he realized that you &quot;could turn the space into a musical instrument by attaching machines to the various parts of the structure.&quot; In conjunction with the wonderful NYC arts group <strong>Creative Time</strong>, who specialize in transforming soon to be demolished or restructured old city buildings into cool art spaces for their final days, Byrne took over this lower Manhattan decades-abandoned ferry terminal (soon to be remodeled) and turned it into a giant musical instrument. <br />
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Byrne and company painstakingly created this giant musical instrument by hooking up a series of sound-generating gizmos, strategically positioned throughout the empty cavernous old ferry building, and connecting them, via long cables, draped down and across the ceiling and back down to the keys on an old organ (the only thing on display in the otherwise completely empty building), which in turn causes the whole building to vibrate and resonate into a myriad of hypnotic noises/sounds. Fun!<br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/david-byrne-s-free-nyc-playing-the-building-installation.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/david-byrne-s-free-nyc-playing-the-building-installation.html
Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:05:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/david-byrne-s-free-nyc-playing-the-building-installation.htmlPrivilege<p class="MsoNormal">
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I&rsquo;ve often said <strong>coincidence</strong> does not exist, but I&#39;ll save that diatribe for another time. However, a couple of days ago, and for the first time, not one but two <strong>Paul Jones</strong> 45&rsquo;s -- he&rsquo;s the former lead singer for the 1960&rsquo;s British invasion band <strong>Manfred Mann</strong> -- wandered into Amoeba from separate collections. Both of these singles are from the same soundtrack, <em><strong>Privilege</strong></em>, a film released in 1967 starring Paul Jones, who was making his big screen acting debut. Now, two days later, I find out that for the first time ever, <em>Privilege</em> will be released on DVD today. Coincidence or plot? I just don&#39;t know. Well, anyway...<o:p></o:p><br />
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The film was directed by <strong>Peter Watkins</strong>, whose highly controversial anti-nuclear drama <strong><em>The War Game</em></strong> won the 1966 <strong>Academy Award</strong> for <strong>Best Documentary Feature</strong> (and was soon to be <strong>banned</strong> in <st1:country-region><st1:place>Great Britain</st1:place></st1:country-region>). Watkins once again doesn&rsquo;t stray far from controversy in <em>Privilege</em>. Taking place in a totalitarian English State of the near future, specifically 1970, the dark comic vision of <em>Privilege</em> criticizes the media and its media manipulation, corporate culture and its corporate manipulation. It portrays a time where most everything seems to bounce off the absurd and neurotic teen pop-dom dominating the age and the happily tranquilized population is content with fluffy distractions. The main character, <strong>Steven Shorter</strong>, played by Paul Jones, is a rock god. His popularity and career have been meticulously engineered by a vast music corporation, reaching dizzying Beatlesque heights. But all this begins to crack when an artist, played by the original supermodel <strong>Jean Shrimpton</strong>, is hired to paint Steven Shorter&rsquo;s portrait, and finds an unstable, empty shell of a man, lost in a lonely world, a puppet trapped by the demands of a music business out of control, and a simple singer victimized by all <img align="left" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/privil2.jpg" style="border: 8px solid white;" />the excess, process, and success. Of course, the artist tries to rescue and prop up Steven Shorter before he becomes yet another statistic in the eternally doomed scenario of recyclable pop stars. But as can only happen in real life and/or rock melodramas, fortunes take a Machiavellian twist when rebellion is only a pop song away. Now that&rsquo;s entertainment!<o:p></o:p><br />
<o:p></o:p></p><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/the-thing-of-a-thing-of-a-thing-/privilege.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/the-thing-of-a-thing-of-a-thing-/privilege.html
Tue, 29 Jul 2008 06:06:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/the-thing-of-a-thing-of-a-thing-/privilege.htmlBad Boys At Nite Pt. 1Recently, <strong>Joey Jenkins</strong> and I were giving <strong>Vinylandia</strong> its once every 7 years cleaning. I guess you could call it the 7 year itch, maybe the 7 year sneeze, as that's all I did for two days afterwards. You would not believe the amount of dust that accumulates when you are sorting and cleaning vintage vinyl... Anyhow, we found quite a few gems tucked away in all the nooks and crannies. One of the best finds is this collection of covers that <strong>Chris Guttmacher</strong> has set aside over the years. These are THE&nbsp; &quot;<em>Bad Boys At Nite</em>&quot;...<br />
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<a target="_blank" href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/nightcrossing.jpg"><img hspace="5" height="169" width="174" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/nightcrossing.jpg" style="border: 2px solid black;" alt="" /></a><a target="_blank" href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/alight.jpg"><img hspace="5" height="169" width="172" vspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/alight.jpg" style="border: 2px solid black;" alt="" /></a><a target="_blank" href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/nightranger.jpg"><img hspace="5" height="169" width="175" vspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/nightranger.jpg" style="border: 2px solid black;" alt="" /></a><br />
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/barkays.jpg"><img hspace="5" height="173" width="172" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/barkays.jpg" style="border: 2px solid black;" alt="" /></a><a target="_blank" href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/blacksheep.jpg"><img hspace="5" height="173" vspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/blacksheep.jpg" style="border: 2px solid black;" alt="" /></a><a target="_blank" href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/run.jpg"><img hspace="6" height="173" vspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/run.jpg" style="border: 2px solid black;" alt="" /></a><br />
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/forcedentery2.jpg"><img hspace="5" height="170" width="174" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/forcedentery2.jpg" style="border: 2px solid black;" alt="" /></a><a target="_blank" href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/onthestreets.jpg"><img hspace="5" height="170" width="174" vspace="5" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/onthestreets.jpg" style="border: 2px solid black;" /></a><a target="_blank" href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/forcedentery.jpg"><img hspace="5" height="170" width="172" vspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/forcedentery.jpg" style="border: 2px solid black;" alt="" /></a><br />
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/burningsensations.jpg"><img hspace="5" height="171" width="176" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/burningsensations.jpg" style="border: 2px solid black;" alt="" /></a><a target="_blank" href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/black.jpg"><img hspace="5" height="171" width="169" vspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/black.jpg" style="border: 2px solid black;" alt="" /></a><a target="_blank" href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/darkangel.jpg"><img hspace="6" height="171" width="173" vspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/darkangel.jpg" style="border: 2px solid black;" alt="" /></a><br />
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/notdressinglikeboys.jpg"><img hspace="5" height="172" width="173" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/notdressinglikeboys.jpg" style="border: 2px solid black;" alt="" /></a><a target="_blank" href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/handcuffs.jpg"><img hspace="5" height="172" width="174" vspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/handcuffs.jpg" style="border: 2px solid black;" alt="" /></a><a target="_blank" href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/oldguys.jpg"><img hspace="5" height="172" width="172" vspace="5" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/oldguys.jpg" style="border: 2px solid black;" /></a><br />
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<br />http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/the-gone-world/bad-boys-at-nite-pt-1.html
Mon, 28 Jul 2008 07:10:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/the-gone-world/bad-boys-at-nite-pt-1.html Go Forth and Replicate: A Few Thoughts on Advertising, Christian Rock, Mad Men and Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music (2004)I've been letting my <a href="http://www.amoeba.com/movies/movies-we-like/contributors/reading-the-sub-texan/page1.html" target="_blank">Movies We (I) Like</a> blog languish for far too long, so before I get to my Batman critique, I'm adding not one, but two entries to it with in the next couple of days. I'm going to try to add one a week from here on out (we'll see how well that goes). Anyway, until they appear, I won't keep you in suspense: the first pick is the pretty darn good <em><strong>Mad Men</strong></em> (which is a TV show, not a movie, but it's better shot than most movies) and the other is the surprisingly thoughtful and balanced <em><strong>Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music</strong></em> (a documentary about the current Christian rock scene).<br />
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Beginning its second season today, <em>Mad Men</em> is about a third-tier agency on Madison Avenue in the early sixties, a time of radical (well, pseudo-radical) change in the world of selling stuff. The first season is set in 1960, following the recent appearance of the famous Volkswagen ads by the Doyle Dane Bernbach agency. <a href="http://adage.com/century/people001.html" target="_blank"><strong>William Bernbach</strong></a> was a critic of advertising as a science, instead using it to convey emotions and deep-seated connotations to sell a product. His ads sold you an image of yourself, rather than a laundry list of the product's qualities that were supposed to appeal to you. The approach proved highly successful, and it's why we have the Super-Bowl commercials we do today.<br />
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There's a scene in the final episode of the first season where head adman Don Draper sells a campaign for a new slide projector to clients by using snapshots of his own family. So moving is his pitch that one of the other admen, who's currently undergoing some marital woes, has to leave the room lest he be seen crying. Ironically underscoring this heartwarming moment is the whole season where Don has been shown in the company of two mistresses. Advertising is an art that says less about itself or its creators than it does about the intended audience. It's art that's meant to be entirely consumable by being designed with the audience, not artist, in mind. If it's not understood by the target demographic, then it fails as art. That's why it's questionable to even call it art. It's not intended to offer resistance, only acceptance. Any resistance that it offers is purely manufactured, meant to play into a collective mind that wants to see itself as an uncollected group of free-thinking individuals. That Bernbach and others following him could and can walk that line -- selling individualism as a collective commodity -- is the evil brilliance of late-20th century advertising.&nbsp; <br />
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I was thinking of Bernbach's movement and that scene from <em>Mad Men</em> while watching <em>Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music</em>, named after the song from <strong>Larry Norman</strong>. Norman serves as the inspirational spirit for the film, promoting God while still managing to make music that could exist on its own terms. I don't know about the rest of his stuff, but that song's pretty catchy. I love country songs about Jesus, hillbilly sacred harp, classic Gospel, old Southern and Negro spirituals, et al., but the closest I ever came to being inspired by so-called contemporary Christian was dropping acid at a <strong>Stryper</strong> show (someone had to do it, and therein lay my inspiration). When a womanizing boozer like Kris Kristofferson asks &quot;why me, Lord,&quot; one gets the sense of some struggle going on between his beliefs and his actions.&nbsp; That sort of struggle gives the song an air of authenticity. But when Michael Sweet and his band sing they're &quot;soldiers under God's command,&quot; one gets the message that this is metal being sanitized for the easily contaminated. Little has changed since when they were on top.<br />
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Most of the bands featured in <strong>Heather Whinna</strong> and <strong>Vickie Hunter</strong>'s documentary sound like particular secular bands, just with special lyrics. The ones escaping this marketing pigeonholing tend to do so by sounding so generic that they can't be ascribed a particularized label. That strategy was employed by Stryper during the metal heyday, obtaining secular acceptance by sounding blandly like the genre, rather than the Christian-Iron Maiden or -Van Halen.&nbsp; <br />
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The fundamental problem with Christian rock is that, rather than build on an authentically religious tradition of struggle, it's made to serve two masters: mass culture and fundamentalism. It fails both because it has no soul, no aesthetic inner life, being entirely outwardly directed. Like a modern ad, it tells you no more than what you already bring to the table. On the one hand, it's designed to appeal to the &quot;secular audience&quot; (i.e., the largely Christian audience in the U.S. -- if the census is any indication -- that aren't Christian enough for the extremists). Here the connotation is that Evangelicals are just like you (evidently just as bland as you), and after conversion you can keep on liking the same stuff that you liked in your heathen days. This message is doomed to fail, I suspect, because it's saying there is no essential change in who you are when coming over to their side, so why bother? On the other hand, the music is designed to appeal to the &quot;Christian audience&quot; (i.e., those teens raised with a severe pop cultural immune-deficiency order) who really like music, but live in fear of its not serving God, only itself -- in a word, idolatry. By giving the fundamentalist youth what they want, the ability to rock, while only reinforcing their cultural seclusion, the music is depleted of its potential aesthetic-objective vitality, instead serving as agitprop. In making rock music easily consumable, the dialectic between beliefs and the world is cut short. The religiously conservative audience doesn't have to struggle with popular art any more, because it's now being made with only one message in mind: buy Christian. With the Christian rock scene, the religion has become just as much of a commodity as the music that it copies, easily consumable in one's leisure time.<br />
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<br />http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/writings-from-the-holy-texan/-go-forth-and-replicate-a-few-thoughts-on-advertising-christian-rock-mad-men-and-why-should-the-devil-have-all-the-good-music-2004-.html
Mon, 28 Jul 2008 05:17:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/writings-from-the-holy-texan/-go-forth-and-replicate-a-few-thoughts-on-advertising-christian-rock-mad-men-and-why-should-the-devil-have-all-the-good-music-2004-.htmlCallisto - Jupiter IV in Entertainment<span style="font-size: medium; "><strong>CALLISTO</strong></span><strong><br />
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<img alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Eric_B/Callisto.jpg" style="width: 320px; height: 325px;" /> <img alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Eric_B/Boucher'sJupiterCallisto.jpg" style="width: 240px; height: 326px;" /><br />
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<strong>Callisto</strong> was discovered by the <strong>Italian</strong> astronomer <strong>Galileo Galilei</strong> in 1610. It was named by <strong>Simon Marius</strong> after a nymph in <strong>Greek </strong>mythology who was associated with <strong>Artemis</strong>, Goddess of the Hunt. In the Grecian religion, <strong>Zeus</strong> took the form of Artemis to seduce Callisto because she didn&#39;t fancy the fellow. Then he raped her.<br />
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<img alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Eric_B/ValhallaCallisto.jpg" style="width: 311px; height: 185px;" /> <img alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Eric_B/CallistoanTerrain.jpg" style="width: 249px; height: 187px;" /><br />
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Its diameter is approximately 99% that of <strong>Mercury</strong>&#39;s. It orbits <strong>Jupiter</strong>. The surface is primarily dominated by impact craters which cover it almost to the point of saturation. However, underneath the surface of rocks and ice is a salty subsurface ocean 100km deep*.<br />
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<img alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Eric_B/dvd9.jpg" style="width: 174px; height: 245px;" />&nbsp;<img alt="" height="244" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Eric_B/jupiterjazz.jpg" width="139" />&nbsp;<img alt="" height="244" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Eric_B/sporilla.jpg" width="244" /><br />
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</span><strong><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>Jupiter Moon</em>, the &quot;Jupiter Jazz&quot; episode of <em>Cowboy Bebop</em> and the Sporilla from </span><em><span style="font-size: x-small;">Terrahawks</span></em></strong></div>
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Above the surface, a thin atmosphere of carbon dioxide coats the icy world. <strong>NASA</strong>&#39;s <strong>Revolutionary Concepts for Human Outer Planet Exploration</strong> has named the world as the favorite for a future <strong>Jupiter</strong> base.<br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/eric-s-blog/callisto-jupiter-iv-in-entertainment.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/eric-s-blog/callisto-jupiter-iv-in-entertainment.html
Mon, 28 Jul 2008 05:14:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/eric-s-blog/callisto-jupiter-iv-in-entertainment.htmlSAN FRANCISCO'S LATE 70's PUNK SCENE BY BRUCE CONNER (RIP) <img align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Collection_Conner_RozMakesaGiantStep.jpg" alt="Bruce Connor collection @ BAM/PFA" title="Roz Makes a Giant Step for Mankind: Negative Trend, January 23, 1978; " style="border: 8px solid white;" /><br />
There is just a week left to catch the recommended <strong>BAM/PFA</strong> (<strong>Berkeley Art Museum/Pacific Film Archive</strong>) photo exhibit by <strong>Bruce Conner</strong>, who sadly passed three weeks ago In San Francisco, reportedly from a liver ailment. The exhibit focuses on the one year period in the late seventies (77-78) Conner spent taking photos of both punk bands and punk fans at the infamous West Coast punk palace the <strong>Mabuhay Gardens</strong> (aka &quot;The Fab Mab&quot; -- the dismal failing Filipino supper club that would be saved/immortalized by punk rock) on Broadway in San Francisco.<br />
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The fifty three Bruce Conner photos on display at the BAM/PFA, which act as an excellent historic overview of the early SF punk scene, include wonderful action shots of bands and artists including <strong>Frankie Fix </strong>of <strong>Crime</strong>, the <strong>Mutants</strong>, <strong>Penelope Houston</strong> of <strong>The Avengers,</strong> and <strong>Negative Trend</strong>'s <strong>Will Shatter</strong><strong> </strong>(who later went on to form<strong> Flipper</strong>).<br />
<img width="145" height="190" align="right" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/PH2008070902146.jpg" title="Bruce Conner (R.I.P.)" style="border: 8px solid white;" alt="" /><br />
Multi media artist Bruce Conner, who the curators at BAM/PFA aptly describe as&nbsp; &quot;a proto-punk provocateur who scavenged cultural waste to construct his assemblages,&quot; ended up doing the photo series by mere coincidence. In the late 70s, Conner was 44 years of age and an established avant-garde artist who created film mash-ups from a mixed bag of found sources and whose rich legacy dated back to the SF 1950's Beat scene. While attending <strong>Devo</strong>'s first ever San Francisco show in 1977, Conner crossed paths with <strong>V. Vale</strong>, now the publisher of <em><strong>RE/Search</strong></em> magazine, who was about to launch the seminal punk zine <em><strong>Search &amp; Destroy</strong></em>.&nbsp; <br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/san-francisco-s-late-70-s-punk-scene-by-bruce-conner-rip-.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/san-francisco-s-late-70-s-punk-scene-by-bruce-conner-rip-.html
Sat, 26 Jul 2008 12:14:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/san-francisco-s-late-70-s-punk-scene-by-bruce-conner-rip-.htmlThe 2008 World Yo-Yo Contest<p>For any alternative sport/entertainment fans looking for a new fix in the pedestrian gene puddle of cable TV athletics, one event next week just might be the best thing to ease your cravings since <strong>competitive eating</strong> and <strong>Takeru &quot;Tsunami&quot; Kobayashi</strong>. It's time, once again, for the <strong>World Yo-Yo Contest</strong> held annually in Florida. The 2008 event will take place in Orlando at the Rosen Plaza Hotel on <strong>July 31st</strong>, <strong>August 1st</strong>, and <strong>August 2nd</strong>. <img align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/yoyologo.gif" style="border: 8px solid white;" alt="" /><br />
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There are several categories and divisions in competition, such as '&quot;One Handed String Trick Division,&quot; &quot;Two Handed Looping Division,&quot; &quot;Two Handed String Trick Division,&quot; &quot;Off-String Division,&quot; &quot;Counter-Weight Division,&quot; and a lot of other divisions and descriptions and concepts I just don't quite understand, but it's absolutely amazing to watch. My five year old son and I were glued to <strong>Youtube</strong> this morning watching some of last year&rsquo;s competition. Tricks like the Nunchuk, Atom Smasher, White Budda, Warp Drive, Brain Twister, Superman, Shoot the Moon, Sword and Shield, Double Iron Whip, Lladder Escape, And Whut, and Eiffel Tower have come a long way from simply Walking the Dog. And, oh yeah, read some of the posted comments on these YouTube videos! There are some serious yo-yo geeks out there with one helluva critical eye!</p>
<p>Anyway, here's a clip from the <strong>2007 Champion</strong>, <strong>Yuuki Spencer</strong>, an incredible freestyler with a love for death metal. Yuuki won both the <strong>U.S. Nationals</strong> and Worlds in 2007, an extraordinary achievement to accomplish in the same year.</p>
<object height="344" width="425">
<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/h_IHsukQLSc&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" />
<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed height="344" width="425" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/h_IHsukQLSc&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/the-thing-of-a-thing-of-a-thing-/the-2008-world-yo-yo-contest.html
Sat, 26 Jul 2008 00:15:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/the-thing-of-a-thing-of-a-thing-/the-2008-world-yo-yo-contest.htmlFrederick's of HollywoodSo, on a walk back from the <strong>Egyptian </strong>a couple of weeks ago I had had the displeasure of running the gauntlet....<strong>Hollywood Blvd.</strong> on a Saturday Nite: females in late 80'sish formalish wear, hoar-moanally pumped young men who mad-dog everything in sight-- probably even the trees, cracks in the sidewalk and their own reflection in the windows. Hell, there were even a couple of <strong>Guardian Angles</strong>, two of the most out of shape guys imaginable. In fact, that gave it kind of retro twist, as I haven't seen <strong>GA's</strong> since 1990 or so.<br />
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Anyhow, we passed the old <strong>Frederick's of Hollywood</strong> building-- it's now another &quot;classy&quot; &quot;party&quot; palace.&nbsp; The facade is still intact, one of the nicest on the Blvd, but the interior is now just another one of those places plushed up to make the bridge and tunnelers think they might rub elbows, or whatever, with <strong>Sienna Miller</strong>.&nbsp;<br />
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I prefer <strong>Hollywood Blvd.</strong> in the day time, as it's had the same vibe for many decades.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
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&quot;<em>Hollywood Blvd. my foot. A lot of bit players out of work and fish faced blondes trying to shake a hangover out of their teeth.</em>&quot;<br />
<strong>--Raymond Chandler</strong>, Bay City Blues<br />
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OK, so I rest my case. The Blvd. by day still delivers... a huge let down for tourists, a real dream ender.<br />
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A couple of days later I stumbled upon this LP with the tag intact. I thought it really embodied the yesterdays of classic Frederick's. Tacky yes, but no dream ender...<br />
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<a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/husbanasultan.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="350" width="351" vspace="5" align="left" alt="" style="border: 2px solid black;" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/husbanasultan.jpg" /></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/fredricks.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="110" width="165" vspace="5" alt="" style="border: 2px solid black;" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/fredricks.jpg" /></a><br />http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/the-gone-world/frederick-s-of-hollywood.html
Fri, 25 Jul 2008 17:55:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/the-gone-world/frederick-s-of-hollywood.htmlBILLY JAM'S WEEKLY HIP-HOP ROUND UP: 07:25:08<img align="left" alt="" height="370" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/1025583.jpg" style="border: 8px solid white;" title="Its a hit - smell me?" width="370" /><br />
<strong>HOLLYWOOD AMOEBA MUSIC HIP-HOP TOP FIVE:</strong><br />
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1) <strong>Nas </strong>Untitled (Def Jam)<br />
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2) <strong>Immortal Technique</strong><em> The 3rd World </em>(Viper)<br />
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3) <strong>Lil Wayne</strong> <em>Tha Carter III </em>(Cash Money/Universal)<br />
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4) <strong>Suga Free</strong> <em>Smell My Finger </em>(HMF/Warner)<br />
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5) <strong>Jean Gray + 9th Wonder</strong> <em>Jeanius</em> (Blacksmith/Warner)<br />
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Thanks to <strong>Scott Carlson</strong> in the hip-hop department at Amoeba Music Hollywood for this week&#39;s top selling albums chart, which includes in the number three slot the brand new release from SoCal&#39;s <strong>Suga Free</strong>, <em><strong>Smell My Finger</strong></em>, which dropped earlier this week.&nbsp;<br />
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<strong>Lil Wayne</strong>&#39;s hot selling new album (#3 on Amoeba chart) has caught the attention of <strong>Abkco Music</strong> who are suing the rapper, his songwriters, and his label (<strong>Cash Money</strong> - a division of <strong>Universal)</strong> for &quot;copyright<img align="right" alt="" height="347" hspace="8" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/PromoBanner3.jpg" title="Poised for (deserved) crossover success One Block Radius" vspace="8" width="200" /> infringement and unfair competition&quot; over a new Lil Wayne album track that appears to heavily borrow from the <strong>Rolling Stones</strong> song &quot;Play With Fire&quot; which they own rights to.&nbsp;<br />
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SF rapper <strong>Z-Man</strong>&#39;s group <strong>One Block Radius</strong> (the alt rock trio he is&nbsp; a part of when not doing solo stuff or with his <strong>Gurp City</strong> familia) have signed to <strong>Def Jam</strong>. The Cali based <a href="http://www.myspace.com/oneblockradius">One Block Radius</a> accurately describe their unique, pop-ready sound as &quot;<strong>Pharcyde</strong> meets <strong>Steve Winwood</strong> meets <strong>Sublime</strong> meets <strong>Outkast </strong>meets <strong>Hall and Oates</strong>&quot; and drop their major label debut in September.<br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/billy-jam-s-weekly-hip-hop-round-up-07-25-08.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/billy-jam-s-weekly-hip-hop-round-up-07-25-08.html
Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:22:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/billy-jam-s-weekly-hip-hop-round-up-07-25-08.htmlChopping Mall At The New Beverly Cinema - Saturday Night!<img alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/dynamic-images/content/new-beverly/myspace-logo.jpg" />
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<font size="+1">Amoeba Music and Phil Blankenship are proud to present some of our film favorites at Los Angeles&rsquo; last full-time revival movie theater. See movies the way they&#39;re meant to be seen - on the big screen and with an audience!</font></p>
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<font size="+1"><img align="right" alt="" src="http://a583.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/49/l_4ed0a724bfd5345512d06d885c31d1de.jpg" width="200" /> </font>
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<font size="+1"><u>Saturday July 26</u></font></p>
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<font size="+1">Kelli Maroney<br />
&amp; Barbara Crampton in</font></p>
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<u><font size="+2">Chopping Mall</font></u></p>
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<font size="+1">1986, 77 min </font></p>
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<font size="+1">New Beverly Cinema 7165 W Beverly Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90036 Midnight, $7 </font></p>
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<font size="+1">w/ Special guests director Jim Wynorski &amp; star Kelli Maroney in attendance, schedules permitting.</font></p>
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<font size="+1"><u>August</u><br />
August 2 Night Of The Juggler</font><br />
(No one can stop James Brolin!)<br />
<font size="+1">August 9 Rainbow Brite &amp; The Star Stealer</font><br />
(Rainbow Brite&#39;s first movie - insanely RARE performance!)<br />
<font size="+1">August 23 The Gate</font><br />
(... pray it&#39;s not too late!)<br />
<font size="+1">August 30 Little Darlings</font><br />
(Paramount Archive 35mm Print! Rare Screening!)</p>
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<font size="+1"><u>September</u><br />
September 6 Idle Hands</font><br />
(9th anniversary for the 1999 stoner horror comedy!)<br />
<font size="+1">September 13 Showgirls</font><br />
(Beyond your wildest dreams. Beyond your wildest fantasies!)<br />
<font size="+1">September 20 Michael Mann&#39;s The Keep</font><br />
(25th Anniversary! Paramount Archive 35mm Print!)<br />
<font size="+1">September 27 Over The Top</font><br />
(Sylvester Stallone. Big Rig Truckin&#39;. ARM WRESTLING!)</p><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/chopping-mall-at-the-new-beverly-cinema-saturday-night-.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/chopping-mall-at-the-new-beverly-cinema-saturday-night-.html
Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:19:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/chopping-mall-at-the-new-beverly-cinema-saturday-night-.htmlSince When Do I Enjoy Kathy Griffin?<div style="text-align: center;"><em><strong><img width="350" align="middle" alt="kathy griffin my life on the d-list" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Sarah/kathy-griffin.jpg" /><br />
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Kathy Griffin?</strong></em><strong><em>!</em> </strong>Somehow I never thought I would say I enjoy Kathy Griffin. I know, I know-- considering the fact that I: a) have been referred to as a fag hag on many an occasion and also that I: b) actually live in the Castro, this should <img height="339" width="225" align="left" style="border: 8px solid white;" title="She will even do aerobics for money!" alt="kathy griffin performing" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Sarah/kathy-griffin-onstage" />come as a shock to some. <br />
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Forgive me, for I have caught on: with latest season of her reality show<em><strong> My Life On the D-List</strong></em> airing regularly, color me hooked.<br />
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I applaud Kathy for being so unabashedly herself. She knows what she is good at (making fun of others, but also herself) and she knows her fans (mainly gay men but also middle aged straight women), and she has no qualms about catering to them. In the near-past I had always thought of her as sort of irritating and uncreative. Now I see that she is both of those things at times, but plenty of others the rest. She knows she is merely a comedic commentator and she knows she is an attention whore, so why not live it up? She is a woman of many faces-- whatever it takes to continually secure her place on the D-List, and I support her in her quest.<br />
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Now I am scrambling to pick up Season One on DVD! I should never have underestimated my enjoyment of poking fun at celebrities. What have I been thinking all this time? Kathy has been there with her gays and her snarky humor all along, and here I was shunning her for n<img width="200" align="right" title="Somehow this woman (on the left, that is) thinks Bill O'Reilly is attractive." style="border: 8px solid white;" alt="kathy griffin mom my life on the d-list" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Sarah/kathy-griffin-mom" />o real reason other than her copious plastic surgery and her copious need to talk about it! For shame! Once again, I have learned not to judge a book by its cover...I'll let Kathy do that for me in her stage routine, so I can laugh along!&nbsp; <br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/all-the-news-that-s-fit-to-sing/since-when-do-i-enjoy-kathy-griffin-.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/all-the-news-that-s-fit-to-sing/since-when-do-i-enjoy-kathy-griffin-.html
Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:52:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/all-the-news-that-s-fit-to-sing/since-when-do-i-enjoy-kathy-griffin-.htmlBAY AREA HIP-HOP ARCHIVES, PART II: DECEMBER 1994<img width="300" height="299" align="left" alt="RBL Posse" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/B000001UKE01SCLZZZZZZZ.jpg" title="R.I.P. Mr. Cee of RBL Posse from HP, tha Sco" style="border: 8px solid white;" /><br />
1) <strong>RBL Posse</strong> - <em>Ruthless By Law</em><br />
2) <strong>Spice 1</strong> - <em>Amerikkka's Nightmare</em><br />
3) <strong>Lil Ri - </strong><em>Deep N Tha Game</em><br />
4) <strong>West Coast Bad Boyz</strong> - <em>High Fo' Xmas</em><br />
5) <strong>Dru Down</strong><span style="font-style: italic;"> - </span><em>Explicit Game<br />
</em>6) <strong>Goldy</strong> - <em>In The Land of Funk</em><br />
7) <strong>D-Moe</strong> - <em>Do You Feel Me</em><br />
8) <strong>Young Rich The Factor</strong><span style="font-style: italic;"> - </span><em>Gettin' A Grip </em><br />
9) V/A - <em>West Coast Bad Boyz </em><br />
10) <strong>Young Joker</strong><span style="font-style: italic;"> - </span><em>Who's Laughin At Cha</em><br />
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11) <strong>C-Bo</strong><span style="font-style: italic;"> - </span><em>Gas Chamber</em><br />
12) <strong>A.M.W. - </strong><em>The Real Mobb</em><br />
13) <strong>Rappin 4-Tay</strong><span style="font-style: italic;"> - </span><em>Don't Fight The Feeling</em><br />
14) <strong>Paris<span style="font-style: italic;"> - </span></strong><em>Guerilla Funk</em><br />
15) <strong>Fly Mar - </strong><em>Ya Betta Ask Somebody<br />
</em>16) <strong>Ray Luv</strong> - Last Nite &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br />
17) <strong>Rondo &amp; Crazy Rak<span style="font-style: italic;"> - </span></strong><em>The Abused</em><br />
18) <strong>Roots From The Underground&nbsp;<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></strong><em>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br />
</em>19) <strong>GLP</strong><span style="font-style: italic;"> - </span><em>Straight Out The Labb</em><br />
20) <strong>Hugh EMC</strong> - <em>The M.O.B.</em><br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/bay-area-hip-hop-archives-part-ii-december-1994.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/bay-area-hip-hop-archives-part-ii-december-1994.html
Thu, 24 Jul 2008 15:35:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/bay-area-hip-hop-archives-part-ii-december-1994.htmlJuly 23, 2008<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="Kung Fu Panda ticket stub Mann Beverly Center" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/kunfupandaticket.jpg" /><br />
<img alt="Mann Beverly Center Marquee Kung Fu Panda" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/kungfupandapic1.jpg" /><br />
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<img alt="Mann Beverly Center Marquee" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/kungfupandapic2.jpg" /><br />
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<img alt="Kung Fu Panda end credits" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/kungfupandapic3.jpg" /><br />
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<img alt="Mann Beverly Center Kung Fu Panda auditorium" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/kungfupandapic4.jpg" /><br />
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http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/july-23-2008.html
Thu, 24 Jul 2008 05:07:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/july-23-2008.htmlVoice of the Future<p>
I am finally back in good ol&rsquo; <strong>L.A.</strong> after my extended hang about on a gorgeous island in the <strong>Puget Sound</strong>. Unfortunately the tall tales I could tell would probably lull even a meth head into a deep coma. Not a lot happens on <strong>Vashon Island</strong> &hellip; except the brutally unexplainable!</p>
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So before I <strong>reinvent</strong> my accounts and bring to you the hard hitting, hard boiled, sinister saga of the vast depravities, the whorish lives in the wanton Northwest, I thought I&rsquo;d first show the newest music video from the Los Angeles based band <strong>Listing Ship</strong>, &ldquo;<em><strong>Voice of the Future</strong></em>.&rdquo; This sci-fi/video game homage is directed by <strong>James Fletcher</strong>. By the way, since I advocate fair and mostly truthful <strong>blather</strong>, I should disclose that I make a brief appearance -- and me think too brief an appearance -- as the plucky rampaging robot. There are other facts I should also add, but who really needs more facts about me...</p>
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<object height="344" width="425"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Wc0NjEYtU68&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" /> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed allowfullscreen="true" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Wc0NjEYtU68&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425"></embed></object></div>
http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/the-thing-of-a-thing-of-a-thing-/voice-of-the-future.html
Thu, 24 Jul 2008 02:42:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/the-thing-of-a-thing-of-a-thing-/voice-of-the-future.html(In which we consider Vince Clarke.)<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Job/vince_clarke.jpg" alt="Vince Clarke" /><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Vince Clarke, worshiping in his own way.</span></div>
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Oh! Something I meant to tell you: The other day I was talking on the phone to Vince Clarke about Yazoo (or Yaz, for those few of you who live in the quaint li&rsquo;l province of The United States of America). He&rsquo;s on tour right now with the indomitable Alison Moyet. For those of us who discovered the two, flawless Yaz albums in youth and remained loyal to the duo long after they weren&rsquo;t to each other, this reunion tour is nothing short of a miracle.<br />
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Corey and I saw them perform recently and I&rsquo;m telling you now, kids &ndash; find out when they&rsquo;re playing near you, buy your tickets fast and GO! I can&rsquo;t remember the last time I enjoyed a concert more.<br />
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<embed width="425" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/R_kzhvYZtQc&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed> <br />
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Because I signed away all legal rights (I wasn&rsquo;t using them anyhow) I can&rsquo;t post my chat with Mr. Clarke on the Amoeblog, but you can read it by clicking on the sentence below:<br />
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<a href="http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid55959.asp"><strong><em> This sentence serves no purpose other than providing a convenient link upon which you may click with your (rather dirty and in need of cleaning) mouse.</em></strong></a><br />
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In other news, a bunch of we Amoebites went to the Hollywood Bowl Sunday night to see Sharon Jones &amp; The Dap-Kings and Feist, but I&rsquo;m not going to report on it until Logan sends me the [<a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/damn">insert cuss word here</a>] pictures.<br />
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So, what does this blog entry have to offer you besides promises of reports elsewhere available?<br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/another-witty-and-unnecessary-blog/-in-which-we-consider-vince-clarke-.html">Continue reading...</a></div></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/another-witty-and-unnecessary-blog/-in-which-we-consider-vince-clarke-.html
Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:49:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/another-witty-and-unnecessary-blog/-in-which-we-consider-vince-clarke-.htmlThe Mutilator<div align="center"><img alt="The Mutilator slasher video cover" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/mutilatorfront.jpg" />&nbsp; <img alt="The Mutilator vestron video" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/mutilatorback.jpg" /><br />
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<img alt="The Mutilator video plot synopsis" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/mutilatordescript.jpg" /><br />
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<img alt="The Mutilator horror movie cover" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/mutilatorpic.jpg" /></div>
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Vestron Video VA5103http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/the-mutilator.html
Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:36:35 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/the-mutilator.htmlTHE "GAY MYTH" THAT STILL HAUNTS DONNA SUMMER<img width="400" height="400" align="left" alt="Donna Summer's new album Crayons" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/donnasummercrayons.jpg" title="Donna Summer's new album &quot;Crayons&quot; is available at Amoeba." style="border: 8px solid white;" /><br />
At a recent music event in San Francisco, where a guy was busily handing out flyers promoting the upcoming Bay Area <a href="http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/1C004071B1B05310" target="_blank">concert appearance by <strong>Donna Summer</strong></a>, I overheard a short but slightly-heated conversation between the guy handing out the flyers for the disco diva and someone walking by.<br />
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&quot;Has Donna Summer been fully forgiven for allegedly been homophobic and......?&quot; the passerby began asking, innocently enough it seemed. But before he could even fully finish his question, the street promoter, sounding jaded at still fielding this seemingly recurring question on a long dead topic, had cut him short: &quot;It's not true. It never happened. It was a rumor based on a myth.&quot;<br />
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Known as the &quot;gay myth&quot; this nasty slice of misinformation has haunted <a href="http://www.donnasummer.com/welcome.php">Donna Summer</a> for the last 25 years and, apparently, seems like it will never fully die. The rumor started in 1983, back when the disco bubble had popped and Summer's career along with it. She had also recently gotten divorced, gotten into a mental funk, and consequently become dependent on anti-depressant medication. Because of all of this, the singer, who had topped the charts with songs like &quot;Bad Girls,&quot; had found God and become a<img width="244" height="244" align="right" style="border: 8px solid white;" title="Donna Summer " alt="Donna Summer" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/donna-summer-20th-century-masters-the-millennium-collection-best-of-donna-summer.jpg" /> born again Christian. More importantly it was when the AIDS crisis was tightening its frightening choke-hold on the gay community -- long Summer's core dedicated fan base. <br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/the-gay-myth-that-still-haunts-donna-summer.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/the-gay-myth-that-still-haunts-donna-summer.html
Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:00:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/the-gay-myth-that-still-haunts-donna-summer.htmlLP-abelsHere's a batch of labels that ape their cover. Most are of the front cover, but a choice few are of the back cover image.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/arista.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="170" width="174" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/arista.jpg" alt="" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/clive.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="170" width="168" vspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/clive.jpg" alt="" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/purplehaze.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="170" width="175" vspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/purplehaze.jpg" alt="" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/keepsmewonderingwhy.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="173" width="172" vspace="5" align="left" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/keepsmewonderingwhy.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/mirrors.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="173" width="173" vspace="5" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/mirrors.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/stevemillerband.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="173" width="172" vspace="5" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/stevemillerband.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/fashion.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="175" width="173" vspace="5" align="left" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/fashion.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/neildiamondstone.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="175" vspace="5" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/neildiamondstone.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/INXS.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="175" vspace="5" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/INXS.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/fantastic.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="175" vspace="5" align="left" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/fantastic.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/runes.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="4" height="175" vspace="5" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/runes.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/siren.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="175" vspace="5" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/siren.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/talesfromoceans.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="173" width="172" vspace="5" align="left" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/talesfromoceans.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/pointofknowreturn.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="6" height="173" vspace="5" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/pointofknowreturn.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/yesterdays.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="173" vspace="5" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/yesterdays.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/natnette.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="172" width="171" vspace="5" align="left" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/natnette.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/columbia.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="172" width="171" vspace="5" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/columbia.jpg" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/thecure.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="172" width="175" vspace="5" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/thecure.jpg" /></a><br />http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/the-gone-world/lp-abels.html
Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:01:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/the-gone-world/lp-abels.htmlBig Blowout!<div style="text-align: center;"><img style="width: 562px; height: 425px;" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Eric_B/BigBlouwout.jpg" /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
There's a &quot;<strong>Big Blowou</strong><strong>t</strong>&quot; underway here at the <strong>Hollywood Amoeba</strong>. What's so big about it, you ask? Well, not the prices. For about as much as a couple of pupusas, banh mi or a seven layer burrito, you can add to your DVD library instead of your waistline. No, friend, the only &quot;big&quot; thing here is value.</div>
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<strong><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Erics-Blog/126579037571">Become a fan of Eric's Blog on Facebook!</a></strong>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/eric-s-blog/big-blowout-.html
Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:23:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/eric-s-blog/big-blowout-.htmlThe Funhouse<div align="center"><img alt="Tobe Hooper's The Funhouse video cover" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/funhousefront.jpg" />&nbsp; <img alt="Tobe Hooper's The Funhouse" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/funhouseback.jpg" /><br />
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<img alt="Tobe Hooper's The Funhouse plot synopsis" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/funhousedescript.jpg" /><br />
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MCA Universal Home Video 55051http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/the-funhouse.html
Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:33:22 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/the-funhouse.htmlJuly 18, 2008<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/darkknightticket.jpg" alt="Batman The Dark Knight Ticket Stub Arclight Cinemas" /><br />
<img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/darkknightpic1.jpg" alt="Batman The Dark Knight Arclight Cinemas" /><br />
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<img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/darkknightpic2.jpg" alt="Batman The Dark Knight Bat Suit Arclight" /> &nbsp; <img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/darkknightpic3.jpg" alt="Batman The Dark Knight Joker Masks Arclight" /><br />
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<img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/darkknightpic4.jpg" alt="Batman The Dark Knight Joker Masks Arclight" /><br />
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<img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/darkknightpic5.jpg" alt="Batman The Dark Knight Movie Posters Arclight" /><br />
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<img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/darkknightpic6.jpg" alt="Batman The Dark Knight Trailer Arclight" /></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/july-18-2008.html
Mon, 21 Jul 2008 06:40:02 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/july-18-2008.htmlFree To Do What I Want: Joss Whedon's Dr. Horrible<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.drhorrible.com/" target="_blank"><em><img height="129" width="480" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Charles/dr-horrible-title.jpg" alt="" style="border: 9px solid black;" /><br />
</em></a></div>
<a href="http://www.drhorrible.com/" target="_blank"><em><br />
</em><strong><em> Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog</em></strong></a> is a 3-act webcast musical created by <strong>Joss Whedon</strong> with his brother <strong>Zack</strong> and half-brother <strong>Jed</strong> (the latter of whom also does the score). Hurry up and watch it, as you'll have to pay iTunes for the privilege after July 20th. Or buy the dvd. Or watch the degraded YouTube version:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<embed height="344" width="425" allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ss6v-DymyyY&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0x006699&amp;color2=0x54abd6"></embed></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">This is Whedon in top form. Anyone who's watched <em><strong>Buffy</strong></em> or <strong><em>Angel</em></strong> or read his run on <strong><em>Astonishing X-Men</em></strong> knows that he does great set-ups, but never gives himself (or his co-writers) enough time to follow through with a fitting ending. This time around, he finally creates an effective resolution, and it's exceedingly morose, given that the rest of the story is a much lighter shade of dark comedy. (Don't worry, I'm not going to give it away.)&nbsp;</div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Charles/doogie-hauser.jpg" alt="" /><img height="204" width="153" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Charles/nathan-fillion.jpg" alt="" style="border: 9px solid white;" /><img height="204" width="168" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Charles/felicia-day.jpg" style="border: 9px solid white;" alt="" /></div>
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This is the tale of Doogie Howser all grown up in a world that doesn't appreciate his eccentric genius.&nbsp;&nbsp; Unlike in <em>Doogie</em>, Dr. Horrible (<strong>Neil Patrick Harris</strong>) doesn't get a preternaturally chesty girlfriend who loves him for being an outsider with a weird, greasy friend. He still has a despicable sidekick, Moist (<strong>Simon Helberg</strong>), but the best Dr. Horrible can manage is to daydream in song while staring across the laundromat at Penny (<strong>Felicia Day</strong>), the whey-faced nerd girl on whom he's fixated. Otherwise, feeling like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Harris_and_Dylan_Klebold" target="_blank">Klebold and Harris</a>, he plots the destruction of the normalizing cultural institutions that have marginalized him out of existence. With each nefarious deed, he gets one step closer to being allowed membership into The Evil League of Evil, run by his hero, Bad Horse. But every time he tries something, he gets pulverized by the fists of the status quo, Captain Hammer (<strong>Nathan Fillion</strong>). Things go from bad to worse when the cloddish attempts of Captain Hammer to stop a heist of Horrible's puts Penny at risk. Even though the bad Doctor is the one who saves her, it's the Captain who gets the credit and a date. When the beefcake good guy learns that Penny's the only thing his downtrodden nemesis cares about, he begins to torment him (in song, of course) saying stuff like, &quot;normally I don't sleep with girls more than once, but I hear that the second time's when they start doing the weird stuff.&quot; Cue the chorus of Hammer groupies. That's more than the put-upon villain can take, so he plots the death of the hero.&nbsp; <br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<img height="139" width="106" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Charles/bad-horse.png" alt="" style="border: 3px solid black;" /><img height="139" width="107" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Charles/fake-thomas-jefferson.png" alt="" style="border: 3px solid black;" /><img height="139" width="107" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Charles/dead-bowie.png" alt="" style="border: 3px solid black;" /><img height="139" width="88" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Charles/professor-normal.png" alt="" style="border: 3px solid black;" /><img height="139" width="100" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Charles/fury-leika.png" alt="" style="border: 3px solid black;" /><br />
<span style="font-size: smaller;">Some of The Evil League of Evil: Bad Horse, Fake Thomas Jefferson, Dead Bowie, Professor Normal and Fury Leika</span></div>
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There's nothing particularly novel about this story. In fact, it's real similar to <em><strong>The Villain</strong></em> (1979), itself a <img height="96" width="128" align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Charles/wile-e-coyote-gravity.jpg" alt="" style="border: 6px solid white;" />comedy Western spin on the <strong>Wile E. Coyote</strong> and <strong>Roadrunner</strong> cartoons. In that movie, <strong>Arnold Schwarzenegge</strong>r is a dipstick do-gooder protecting <strong>Ann-Margaret</strong> from the villainous <strong>Kirk Douglas</strong>. Douglas' character is wittier, more charming and all-around more creative than the dullwitted hero, but the forces of order are constantly working against him, just like poor Wile E. Coyote, super-genius. The Coyote is a fundamentally repressed part of the modern psyche, which has been stripped down and mass produced by the homogeneous order. We want to side with the villain against the stifling forces of control and celebrate true individualism, until we realize that cute bird would be eaten. The Coyote cartoons maintain the agony of the paradox (between desire and morality), whereas <em>The Villain</em> cheats and lets Douglas get the girl.<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;</div>
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<embed height="344" width="425" allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8lD4FdqkS70&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0x006699&amp;color2=0x54abd6"></embed></div>
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What the Brothers Whedon add is that line between sadness and funny one-liners that Joss and his writers regularly managed to walk on his TV shows. Unlike <em>The Villain</em>, they don't let you off the hook for wishing for chaotic freedom. <em>Dr. Horrible</em>, therefore, sides with <em>Wile E. Coyote</em> and our own moral reality.&nbsp; And it's nice to hear dialog from his company that doesn't sound like the Buffyverse argot, which I was beginning to think was the only dialect they could write in (the diminutive form gets old really fast). The music is similar to the <em>Buffy</em> musical, <strong><em>Once More With Feeling</em></strong>. It still has that <em><strong>Rent</strong></em>-burnished pop sound to it, but the lyrics are funny and the music generically catchy enough to get you through. I'd say the music and singing are, at least, an improvement over the <em>Buffy</em> episode. If you hate Joss Whedon, none of this will change your mind, but if you appreciate his pop virtues, this is good stuff.<br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/writings-from-the-holy-texan/free-to-do-what-i-want-joss-whedon-s-dr-horrible.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/writings-from-the-holy-texan/free-to-do-what-i-want-joss-whedon-s-dr-horrible.html
Sun, 20 Jul 2008 03:01:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/writings-from-the-holy-texan/free-to-do-what-i-want-joss-whedon-s-dr-horrible.htmlHip-Hop Author Marcus Reeves Discusses "Somebody Scream! Rap Music's RIse To Prominence in the Aftershock of Black Power"<strong><img height="300" align="left" width="200" style="border: 8px solid white;" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/2391688.jpg" alt="Marcus Reeves (&quot;Someboday Scream!&quot; author)" title="Somebody scream &amp; make some noise for this author: Marcus Reeves!" /></strong><strong><br />
Marcus Reeves</strong>, former editor of the the <em><strong>Source</strong></em><strong> </strong>hip-hop magazine and contributor to such publications as the <em><strong>New York Times</strong></em><strong>,</strong> the<strong> </strong><em><strong>Washington Post</strong></em>, <em><strong>Rolling Stone</strong></em>, and <em><strong>Vibe</strong></em> magazine, recently had his book <em><strong>Somebody Scream! </strong></em><strong><em>(Rap Music's Rise To Prominence In The Aftershock of Black Power </em></strong>published by<strong><em><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>Faber and Faber Inc. </em></strong><br />
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Like <strong>Jeff Chang</strong>'s critically acclaimed hip-hop history <em><strong>Can't Stop Won't Stop</strong></em>, <em>Somebody Scream</em> likewise takes an analytical look at hip-hop -- a musical form that, like rock before it, is now all grown up and going through its own kind of mid-life crisis. <strong>Cornel West</strong> called Reeves' book &quot;a strong&nbsp; timely book for the new day in hip-hop&quot; and he is right.<br />
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I recently had the opportunity to catch up with the East Coast based author to talk about his new book, <em>Somebody Scream</em>,&nbsp; and its subject matter: hip-hop. Here is that dialog:<br />
<strong><br />
Amoeblog</strong>: First up, how hard is it writing a book on a topic that is still unfolding around you as you report on its subject matter?<br />
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<strong>Marcus Reeves:</strong> Surprisingly, it wasn&rsquo;t that hard to write because before I even started I had a beginning, a middle and an end. I&rsquo;d already picked out who were the most influential rap artists&mdash;the ones who lead their particular era&mdash;strung their stories together by chapter and let the narrative unfold.<img align="right" style="border: 8px solid white;" title="Must-read analyitical look at hip-hop book." alt="Marcus Reeve's book &quot;Somebody Scream!&quot;" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/14404328.JPG" /> And the narrative was easy because, like so many who&rsquo;d watched the story of commercial rap over the last 30 years, it was also the story of my life. All the history and events that the music reflected, and I talk about in the book, were things I lived through and impacted my life. The last chapter of the book, which discusses what events shape the music now, helped capture all those moments that were still unfolding. <br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/hip-hop-author-marcus-reeves-discusses-somebody-scream-rap-music-s-rise-to-prominence-in-the-aftershock-of-black-power-.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/hip-hop-author-marcus-reeves-discusses-somebody-scream-rap-music-s-rise-to-prominence-in-the-aftershock-of-black-power-.html
Sat, 19 Jul 2008 19:24:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/hip-hop-author-marcus-reeves-discusses-somebody-scream-rap-music-s-rise-to-prominence-in-the-aftershock-of-black-power-.htmlBILLY JAM'S WEEKLY HIP-HOP (W)RAP UP: 07:18:08<span style="font-size: larger;"><strong>AMOEBA MUSIC SAN FRANCISCO HIP-HOP TOP FIVE 07:18:08</strong></span><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><img width="200" height="200" align="left" alt="" style="border: 8px solid white;" title="'Tis Lil wonder it's number one." src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/51UUWZvHisL._SL500_AA240_.jpg" /><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
1) <strong>Lil Wayne</strong> <em>Tha Carter III </em>(Cash Money/Universal)<br />
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2) <strong>Messy Marv</strong> <em>Hustlas Motivation Mixtape</em><br />
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3) <strong>Jean Gray + 9th Wonder </strong><em>Jeanius </em>(Blacksmith/Warner)<br />
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4) <strong>Immortal Technique </strong><em>The 3rd World</em><strong> </strong>(Viper)<br />
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5) <strong>Nas </strong>Untitled (Def Jam)</span><br />
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This week's number one seller at the Amoeba Music San Francisco store should come as lil surprise.<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></span>It was <em><strong>Tha Carter III </strong></em>by Lil Wayne, which, despite advance leaks and rampant downloading of its tracks, still managed to sell big numbers (by today's music industry standards) and hit the number one spot on countless charts (both airplay &amp; sales) from <strong>Billboard</strong> (3 weeks straight @ #1) to<strong> KMEL</strong> to<img align="right" style="border: 8px solid white;" title="Your Boy Boy Young Mess from da Filthy Moe." src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/m_0e8e170d389cbae6a9fb47a9f637c200.jpg" alt="Fillmore, San Francisco rapper Messy Marv" /> Amoeba etc. <strong>Luis </strong>in the hip-hop department at the Haight Street Amoeba, who kindly supplied this week's Hip-Hop Top Five, said that Bay Area music buyers love Lil Wayne just as much as national audiences (especially considering the historic Bay Area/Dirty South connections), but that their dedication to Bay Area rap/hip-hop, including this week's chart's number two album, is unbridled.<br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/billy-jam-s-weekly-hip-hop-w-rap-up-07-18-08.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/billy-jam-s-weekly-hip-hop-w-rap-up-07-18-08.html
Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:31:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/billy-jam-s-weekly-hip-hop-w-rap-up-07-18-08.htmlJuly 16, 2008 part 2<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="Hancock movie ticket stub" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/hancockticket.jpg" /><br />
<img alt="Park Theater Marquee Hancock" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/hancockpic8.jpg" /><br />
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<img alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/hancockpic6.jpg" /><br />
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<img alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/hancockpic7.jpg" /><br />
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<img alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/hancockpic4.jpg" /><br />
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<img alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/hancockpic5.jpg" /><br />
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<img alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/hancockpic1.jpg" /><br />
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http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/july-16-2008-part-2.html
Fri, 18 Jul 2008 07:00:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/july-16-2008-part-2.htmlout today 7/15...dark knight...abba...mamma mia...the x-files...<img width="200" vspace="8" hspace="8" align="left" alt="the-dark-knight" style="border: 3px solid gold;" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Brad/thedarknight.jpg" /><br />
There is a new <strong>Nas</strong> album out this week, but that is about it. Nothing much else for me to share with you. The big albums might not be coming out every week, but the big summer movies continue to come out. Both the new Batman movie, <em><strong>The Dark Knight,</strong></em><strong> </strong>and the movie version of the musical <em><strong>Mamma Mia!</strong></em> come out this weekend. As a huge fan of both Batman and ABBA, I will be seeing both of these movies as soon as I possibly can. The week after this weekend is the release of the new<em> <strong>X-Files</strong></em> movie, <em><strong>I Want to Believe</strong></em>. Some people may not like that they keep making movies out of old TV shows, but I would much rather see an X-Files movie with the actual cast<img width="250" vspace="8" hspace="8" height="374" align="right" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Brad/beverlyhillbillies.jpg" style="border: 3px solid gold;" alt="the-beverly-hillbillies" /> than a remake 10 years down the road starring new 20- something actors in the roles of Mulder and Scully. You know it is going to happen. They did just remake <em>Get Smart</em> into a new movie with new actors, and Hollywood seems to be constantly turning old TV shows into new movies. But they usually don't work out so well-- <em><strong>The Dukes of Hazzard </strong></em>with Jessica Simpson and <em><strong>The Beverly Hillbillies</strong></em> with Jim Varney are two bad examples. It did have both Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton in the cast, so I guess it wasn't all bad. Still, sometimes these remakes work out beautifully, like the big screen adaptations of <em><strong>Charlie's Angels</strong></em>. I also have to admit that I like the<strong> <em>Brady Bunch Movi</em></strong><em><strong>e</strong></em> as well, and I am looking forward to the <em><strong>Wonder Woman</strong></em> and <em><strong>A-Team</strong></em> movies. I just hope they don't make <em><strong>Jake &amp; the Fatman</strong></em> or <em><strong>Head of the Class</strong></em> into big screen movies. But a <em><strong>Murder She Wrote</strong></em> movie is not such a bad idea. I bet it would actually make some fantastic money among the senior set. Unfotunately I think they waited too long to make a <em><strong>Golden Girls</strong> </em>movie. The <em>Get Smart </em>movie actually worked. I know there were a few people out there that did not like it or decided to not give it a chance, but I think Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway could do no wrong. Without them in it, I seriously doubt I would have even seen it. <img width="300" vspace="8" hspace="8" height="199" align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Brad/abba.jpg" style="border: 3px solid gold;" alt="abba" /><br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/pen-is-mightier-than-the-sword/out-today-7-15-dark-knight-abba-mamma-mia-the-x-files-.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/pen-is-mightier-than-the-sword/out-today-7-15-dark-knight-abba-mamma-mia-the-x-files-.html
Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:20:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/pen-is-mightier-than-the-sword/out-today-7-15-dark-knight-abba-mamma-mia-the-x-files-.htmlJust One Of The Guys - Saturday Midnight At The New Beverly !<img alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/dynamic-images/content/new-beverly/myspace-logo.jpg" />
<p><font size="+1">Amoeba Music and Phil Blankenship are proud to present some of our film favorites at Los Angeles&rsquo; last full-time revival movie theater. See movies the way they're meant to be seen - on the big screen and with an audience!</font></p>
<p><font size="+1"> <hr />
<img width="200" align="right" alt="" src="http://a893.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/27/l_3917a7ab9e55e5646973a4f8010876b4.jpg" /> </font></p>
<p><font size="+1"><u>Saturday July 19</u></font></p>
<p><font size="+1"> Joyce Hyser <br />
&amp; Clayton Rohner in</font></p>
<p><u><font size="+2">Just One <br />
Of The Guys</font></u></p>
<p><font size="+1">1985, 90 min </font></p>
<p><font size="+1"> New Beverly Cinema 7165 W Beverly Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90036 Midnight, $7 </font></p>
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</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<hr />
<font size="+1"><u>July</u><br />
July 5 The Delta Force</font><br />
(celebrate Independence Day weekend - watch Lee Marvin &amp; Chuck Norris kick terrorist BUTT in the Cannon Films classic!)<br />
<font size="+1">July 19 Just One Of The Guys</font><br />
(Sony's LAST 35mm print of the ultimate '80s role reversal comedy!)<br />
<font size="+1">July 26 Chopping Mall</font><br />
(w/ special guests director Jim Wynorski &amp; star Kelli Maroney in attendance, schedules permitting)
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><font size="+1"><u>August</u><br />
August 2 Night Of The Juggler</font><br />
(No one can stop James Brolin!)<br />
<font size="+1">August 9 Rainbow Brite &amp; The Star Stealer</font><br />
(Rainbow Brite's first movie - insanely RARE performance!)<br />
<font size="+1">August 23 The Gate</font><br />
(... pray it's not too late!)<br />
<font size="+1">August 30 Little Darlings</font><br />
(Paramount Archive 35mm Print! Rare Screening!)</p>
<p><font size="+1"><u>September</u><br />
September 6 Idle Hands</font><br />
(9th anniversary for the 1999 stoner horror comedy!)<br />
<font size="+1">September 13 Showgirls</font><br />
(Beyond your wildest dreams. Beyond your wildest fantasies!)<br />
<font size="+1">September 20 Michael Mann's The Keep</font><br />
(25th Anniversary! Paramount Archive 35mm Print!)<br />
<font size="+1">September 27 Over The Top</font><br />
(Sylvester Stallone. Big Rig Truckin'. ARM WRESTLING!)</p><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/just-one-of-the-guys-saturday-midnight-at-the-new-beverly-.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/just-one-of-the-guys-saturday-midnight-at-the-new-beverly-.html
Thu, 17 Jul 2008 07:32:34 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/just-one-of-the-guys-saturday-midnight-at-the-new-beverly-.html(((6))) Tuesday Nite July 22nd @ Ding-a-ling<div style="text-align: center;"><img hspace="5" height="510" width="477" vspace="5" align="middle" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/ivankainvertsmall.jpg" alt="" /></div>
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Come on down to <a href="http://www.myspace.com/clubdingaling " target="_blank"><strong>Ding-a-ling</strong></a>...A free, free for all at the bar formerly known as <strong>Cuffs</strong> (Yes, THAT <strong>Cuffs</strong>!), located in Silverlake @ 1941 Hyperion Blvd. Tuesday July 22nd, it's (((6))), <a href="http://www.myspace.com/binaryfield " target="_blank"><strong>Binary Field</strong></a> &amp;<a href="http://www.myspace.com/branpos"> <strong>Bran - Pos </strong></a>along with some amazing obscurities being hurled from the DJ booth courtesy of <strong>Don Bolles</strong>. It's a night guaranteed to make that anti-drum machine fellow cry...<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br />
Also, the <a href="http://www.sssonicsix.com"><strong>Secret Society of the Sonic Six </strong></a>has two new singles out, including a split with ex-<strong>Subtonix</strong> and all around Amoeba legend <a href="http://Brandi Obsolete." target="_blank"><strong>Brandi Obsolete</strong>.</a> Head on down to your local Amoeba and pick one or the other (or both) up. Click on the above link to check out the new trax and if you're nowhere near an Amoeba, order the singles on the band site as well...<br />
<br />http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/the-gone-world/-6-tuesday-nite-july-22nd-ding-a-ling.html
Thu, 17 Jul 2008 06:59:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/the-gone-world/-6-tuesday-nite-july-22nd-ding-a-ling.htmlAmericans Wearing Khimar, Arabs Wearing High End Fashion<img vspace="10" hspace="10" align="left" alt="" style="width: 251px; height: 375px;" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Gomez/rachid-taha-essaouira6-4.jpg" /><br />
I heard moans once <strong>Rachid Taha</strong> started his set. The distorted tone of the electric guitar pierced through the crowd and created a division in the ranks. Couples dropped their pitas with spicy chipotle hummus out of pure confusion. The West Hollywood women in their belly dancing outfits didn&rsquo;t know how to dance to it. It was only rock and roll and they liked it&hellip;sort of. In other countries, Rachid Taha is a rock star. For America, Rachid Taha has to be marketed as an &ldquo;eccentric world music artist&rdquo; or something like &quot;The Algerian U2.&quot; It's not that Rachid has ever denied his Algerian roots, but he brings his Algerian influences to the 21st century when America still wants to hear him sing in the style of the 19th century.<br />
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It&rsquo;s somewhat understandable. Most of us drawn to any kind of alternative culture seek what is different from our own. The kids who dress like Cholos in Chiba, Japan and the Mexican kids who dress like American Emo kids do it for the same reason non Islamic American women wear a Khimar strictly for fashion, they just think it looks cool. In fact it was funny to see how many Non-Arabic people at the show dressed in Traditional Arabic clothes and to see the Arabic people dressed to the nines in high-end fashion. <br />
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It was only after performing &quot;Ecoute-Moi Camarade,&quot; a song off his 2006&rsquo;s brilliant <em>Diwan 2,</em> his &ldquo;traditional album,&rdquo; that the audience woke up. From then on it was a full-on dance party. Rock and traditional songs were equally appreciated by most of the crowd after that. Rahid&rsquo;s line-up consisted of the basic elements for a rock band (guitar, bass, drum keyboards) with the addition of the tradition instrumentation (The Oud and Arabic percussion). Neither traditional nor modern instrumentation dominated; they blended together quite well, even in a live setting.<br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/los-angeles-me/americans-wearing-khimar-arabs-wearing-high-end-fashion.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/los-angeles-me/americans-wearing-khimar-arabs-wearing-high-end-fashion.html
Thu, 17 Jul 2008 06:57:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/los-angeles-me/americans-wearing-khimar-arabs-wearing-high-end-fashion.htmlSalsa Dancing In Chanclas<img width="378" height="283" align="left" alt="" style="border: 8px solid white;" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Gomez/spanishharlem.JPG" /><br />
As I watched <strong>The Spanish Harlem Orchestra</strong> blow the planks off The Santa Monica Pier last Thursday, I started to think about the degrees of dancing in the crowd. I was busy working at the Amoeba booth so I kept my thoughts to myself. Later, I overheard my co-workers George and Anel talk about exactly what I had been thinking.<br />
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George came up with the concept that there are three types of Salsa dancers. The first type is the &ldquo;look at me&rdquo; dancer-- those who took Salsa lessons and want to show off&nbsp; every move they learned. <br />
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It may look great at a competition or even at a Salsa club, but on the packed Santa Monica Pier it looks a little awkward and out of place. Imagine a couple trying to dance in the middle of a busy airport terminal and that would give you an idea of what it looked like. <br />
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The next group is the Naturals. The Naturals are cool. They have been dancing to Latin music for years and it&rsquo;s second nature. The Naturals tend to be the older folks or the younger generation who have been dancing since they were kids. Their moves are fluid and not showy, yet if one of the <em>look-at-me&rsquo;s</em> called them on the dance floor they could hang with ease. <br />
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The last group consists of the rest of us: all the people who can&rsquo;t dance, but try. <a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/chancla"><em>Chanclas</em> </a>weren&rsquo;t made for Salsa dancing and to watch the beach-goers give it a try in their flip-flops was nothing less than comical. I watched one couple try to do it. Not only were they wearing flip-fl<img width="321" height="248" align="right" alt="" style="border: 8px solid white;" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Gomez/chanclas.jpg" />ops, they were also dancing on a warped wooden pier while intoxicated, a <em>trifecta</em> for a potential disaster. Lucky for them, the only abuse suffered was my side hurting from laughing so hard. <br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/los-angeles-me/salsa-dancing-in-chanclas.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/los-angeles-me/salsa-dancing-in-chanclas.html
Thu, 17 Jul 2008 05:16:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/los-angeles-me/salsa-dancing-in-chanclas.htmlJuly 16, 2008<div style="text-align: center;"><img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/hellboy2ticket.jpg" alt="Hellboy 2 ticket stub" /> <br />
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<img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/hellboy2pic1.jpg" alt="Grauman's Chinese Theater" /> <br />
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<img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/hellboy2pic2.jpg" alt="Grauman's Chinese Theater Courtyard" /> <br />
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<img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/hellboy2pic3.jpg" alt="Hellboy 2 Poster" /> <br />
&nbsp;</div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/july-16-2008.html
Thu, 17 Jul 2008 01:05:45 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/july-16-2008.htmlJuly 15, 2008<div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Hellboy 2 ticket stub" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/encountersticket.jpg" /> <br />
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<img alt="Grauman's Chinese Theater" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/encounterspic1.jpg" /> <br />
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<img alt="Grauman's Chinese Theater Courtyard" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/encounterspic2.jpg" /> <br />
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<img alt="Hellboy 2 Poster" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/encounterspic3.jpg" /> <br />
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<img alt="Grauman's Chinese Theater" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/encounterspic4.jpg" /> <br />
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<img alt="Grauman's Chinese Theater Courtyard" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/encounterspic5.jpg" /> <br />
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<img alt="Hellboy 2 Poster" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/encounterspic6.jpg" /> <br />
&nbsp;</div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/july-15-2008.html
Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:10:45 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/july-15-2008.html(In which Job strays, but remains Faithfull in his heart.)<div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Dresden Germany" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Job/dresdengermany.gif" /><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">My apartment. ...Or wait - No, this is a picture of Dresden after the bombing. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
I&rsquo;m looking around my apartment for a conversational starting point. My apartment is a mess right now, so there&rsquo;s a lot to see:<br />
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A full hamper of clean clothes that I haven&rsquo;t yet folded and tucked away.<br />
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The (amazing and important) <a href="http://www.collider.com/uploads/imageGallery/Paul_Robeson_Portraits_of_an_Artist/paul_robeson_portraits_of_an_artist_criterion_dvd_image.jpg">Paul Robeson DVD box set</a> that Criterion released. On top of that is the Nina Simone &ldquo;Four Women&rdquo; anthology that <a href="http://www.amoeba.com/blog/contributors/writings-from-the-holy-texan/page1.html">Charles</a> loaned me.<br />
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My stereo, upon which some Marianne Faithfull recordings of Kurt Weill is playing.<br />
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<embed width="425" height="344" allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/o6dlJ7zoRi8&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"></embed></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Books everywhere, the closest of which, to me, is &ldquo;Scum Manifesto&rdquo; by that blithe and sparkling literary pixie, Valerie Solanas.<br />
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A drop-leaf table from Ikea that&rsquo;s nearly completed construction (since February).<br />
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A computer upon which I&rsquo;m writing an, as yet, trite and aimless blog.<br />
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I really should clean this place up.<br />
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You know, speaking of Marianne Faithfull, she came into Amoeba Hollywood not that long ago. Normally, when celebrities shop our store (every hour, it seems) I turn a blind eye. I don&rsquo;t want to be &ldquo;that guy&rdquo; that demands some stranger&rsquo;s time because I &ldquo;feel&rdquo; like I &ldquo;know them&rdquo; because they played some teen star&rsquo;s mom on some trite and aimless sitcom.<br />
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<embed width="425" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TvtDD98rK-o&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></div>
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However, when Kim and Logan came racing back to the soundtrack section to tell me they spotted the glorious Ms. Faithfull inside, I dropped everything and gave chase. I knew, from friends&rsquo; stories, that Ms. Faithfull was gracious; besides, I admire her so much that it would be an honor just to have her snub me, so I couldn&rsquo;t lose, either way.<br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/another-witty-and-unnecessary-blog/-in-which-job-strays-but-remains-faithfull-in-his-heart-.html">Continue reading...</a></div></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/another-witty-and-unnecessary-blog/-in-which-job-strays-but-remains-faithfull-in-his-heart-.html
Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:10:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/another-witty-and-unnecessary-blog/-in-which-job-strays-but-remains-faithfull-in-his-heart-.htmlWild Blue Yonder<a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/bigstar.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="" height="170" hspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/bigstar.jpg" vspace="5" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/zombie.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" height="170" hspace="7" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/zombie.jpg" vspace="5" width="171" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/blindsky.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" height="170" hspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/blindsky.jpg" vspace="5" width="169" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/doctersofmadnesslabel.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="" height="168" hspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/doctersofmadnesslabel.jpg" vspace="5" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/courtandspark.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" height="168" hspace="7" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/courtandspark.jpg" vspace="5" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/jupiterlabel.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" height="168" hspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/jupiterlabel.jpg" vspace="5" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/relativity.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="" height="172" hspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/relativity.jpg" vspace="5" width="169" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/vinyldreamslabel.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" height="172" hspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/vinyldreamslabel.jpg" vspace="5" width="171" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/lightlabel.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" height="172" hspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/lightlabel.jpg" vspace="5" width="172" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/cultlabel.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="" height="168" hspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/cultlabel.jpg" vspace="5" width="171" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/t-eleclabelclouds.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" height="168" hspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/t-eleclabelclouds.jpg" vspace="5" width="170" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/gratefuldead.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" height="168" hspace="6" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/gratefuldead.jpg" vspace="5" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/noonewantstoseeyourbutt.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="" height="170" hspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/noonewantstoseeyourbutt.jpg" vspace="5" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/hotpinklabel.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" height="170" hspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/hotpinklabel.jpg" vspace="5" width="170" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/irratatedtoung.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" height="170" hspace="4" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/irratatedtoung.jpg" vspace="5" width="172" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/fantasy.jpg" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="" height="170" hspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/fantasy.jpg" vspace="5" width="172" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/skylabel.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" height="170" hspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/skylabel.jpg" vspace="5" width="171" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/babylon.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="" height="170" hspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/walkingblueslabel.jpg" vspace="5" width="168" /><br />
<img align="left" alt="" height="167" hspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/seeformiles.jpg" vspace="5" width="171" /><img align="left" alt="" height="167" hspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/babylon.jpg" vspace="5" /></a><br />
The <strong>Vinyl Dreams</strong> design kinda rules. I always thought that the <strong>Pasha</strong> design was ridiculous-- just like the music they released. Actually, by my standards, that makes it a perfect design. The <strong>Asylum</strong> design really speaks to the imbibing going on back in their heyday-- trip out and pass the mirror dude, cuz I think I see a huge door floating in the sky that leads to the looney bin...<br />
http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/the-gone-world/wild-blue-yonder.html
Wed, 16 Jul 2008 08:08:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/the-gone-world/wild-blue-yonder.htmlMurder In Space<div align="center"><img alt="Murder In Space TV Movie video cover" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/murderinspacefront.jpg" />&nbsp; <img alt="Murder In Space TV Movie" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/murderinspaceback.jpg" /><br />
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<img alt="Murder In Space starring Wilford Brimley &amp; Martin Balsam" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/murderinspacepic2.jpg" /> <br />
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<img alt="Murder In Space plot synopsis" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/murderinspacepic.jpg" /></div>
Vidmark Entertainment VM 3601http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/murder-in-space.html
Tue, 15 Jul 2008 22:36:39 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/murder-in-space.htmlEAST BAY EXPRESS' HELLA FUN BEST OF THE EAST BAY PARTY <img align="left" alt="The Uptones @ Oakland Museum, East Bay Express party" height="311" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Uptones.jpg" style="border: 8px solid white;" title="Old school Berkeley ska crew The Uptones" width="415" /><br />
&quot;I thought there would be maybe a couple of hundred people here and that it would be a pretty good event but, damn, I didn&#39;t think there would be this many people here and that it would this great a party. Hell yeah!,&quot; exclaimed <strong>Dan K </strong>-- one of the many attendees at last Friday&#39;s<em> <strong>East Bay Express</strong></em> party.<br />
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The Oakland biker/hip-hop artist (who a few years back had a <a href="http://www.eastbayexpress.com/news/hella_crazy/Content?oid=285446" target="_blank">feature on him in the <em>East Bay Expres</em><em>s</em>)</a> was excitedly shouting over the music coming from the main stage at the <strong>Oakland Museum of California</strong>, where the independent East Bay weekly was hosting its &quot;Old School&quot; themed &quot;Best of the East Bay&quot; free party. Meanwhile, behind him, one of the hella fun night&#39;s many performers, longtime Berkeley ska group <strong>The Uptones </strong>(pictured above), ripped into their appropriately old school hit &quot;Out to Sea.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
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&quot;Crazy....in a good way,&quot; laughed Amoeba Music&#39;s <strong>Naomi </strong>about the scene.<strong> </strong>She and fellow Amoebite <strong>Rachael </strong>were kept extremely busy tending to the long line of music fans who patiently waited for their turn to <img align="right" alt="Amoeba Music spin-to-win @ East Bay Express 2008 Best-of party" height="202" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Spin2win.jpg" style="border: 8px solid white;" title="Naomi (right) checks to see what prize spinner won" width="270" /> spin-to-win prizes including CDs, DVDs, and lots of Amoeba swag, including bags, hoodies, and turntable slip mats. (Amoeba was one of the main sponsors of the event.) A little later, headlining act<strong> Flipper </strong>was scheduled to sign autographs at the Amoeba table.<br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/east-bay-express-hella-fun-best-of-the-east-bay-party-.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/east-bay-express-hella-fun-best-of-the-east-bay-party-.html
Tue, 15 Jul 2008 01:28:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/east-bay-express-hella-fun-best-of-the-east-bay-party-.htmlDeadly Dreams<div align="center"><img alt="Deadly Dreams horror movie directed by Kristine Peterson" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/deadlydreamsfront.jpg" />&nbsp; <img alt="Deadly Dreams horror thriller video" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/deadlydreamsback.jpg" /><br />
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<img alt="Deadly Dreams plot synopsis" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/deadlydreamsdescript.jpg" /> <br />
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<img alt="Deadly Dreams" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/deadlydreamspic.jpg" /> <br />
&nbsp;</div>
Virgin Vision #70028http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/deadly-dreams.html
Mon, 14 Jul 2008 23:14:54 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/deadly-dreams.htmlJuly 13, 2008<div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="WallE ticket stub" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/walleticket.jpg" /></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/july-13-2008.html
Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:41:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/july-13-2008.htmlTrue Tales of Political Correctness Gone Wild<br />
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<embed height="344" width="425" allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/20a-exAW6qc&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"></embed></div>
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<embed height="344" width="425" allowfullscreen="true" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/h-akk3gog34&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1"></embed></div>
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This guy asks some really good questions so I thought I'd set aside five seconds to come up with some answers.<br />
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<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">Why didn't the scientists call it a white hole? </span><br />
They did. A white hole, in astrophysics, is an object which ejects matter from within its event horizon (as opposed to a black hole, which absorbs all visible light, and has a black appearance). They're theorized to serve as the exit points for wormholes. Their appearance would be white, like a white dwarf (which is also known as a degenerate dwarf). If <strong>Commissioner Mayfield </strong>had made the analogy to a white hole, it would seem to imply that central collections is spewing paperwork.<br />
<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);"><br />
Tell me one thing when they say &quot;white&quot; and you get a negative connotation?</span><br />
For starters, ketracel white, white coats, white collar crime, White Noise, White Sox fan, White House, White Castle hangover, The White Stripes, White Horse, Bill White, white flag, White Devil, whitehead, white guilt, <em>White Men Can't Jump</em>, White Man's Overbite, white out, white reggae, great white shark, white bread, white booty, white trash, &quot;that's so white,&quot; white wash (as he used himself).<br />
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Warning! This trailer does NOT necessarily reflect my opinions or the opinions of Amoeba Music, although we do sell this DVD. It's arguably our generation's <strong><em>Birth of a Nation</em></strong>.<br />
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<embed height="344" width="425" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qzUJJKDa558&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></div>
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<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/eric-s-blog/true-tales-of-political-correctness-gone-wild.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/eric-s-blog/true-tales-of-political-correctness-gone-wild.html
Mon, 14 Jul 2008 05:28:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/eric-s-blog/true-tales-of-political-correctness-gone-wild.htmlThe Vindicator<div align="center"><img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/vindicatorfront.jpg" alt="The Vindicator Sci-Fi Movie" />&nbsp; <img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/vindicatorback.jpg" alt="The Vindicator Videocassette" /><br />
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<img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/vindicatordescript.jpg" alt="The Vindicator" /></div>
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Key Video 1501<br />http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/the-vindicator.html
Mon, 14 Jul 2008 00:26:26 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/the-vindicator.htmlFRIDA FOR FREE IN DA SFC + OTHER BAY AREA FREEBIES<img width="230" height="296" align="left" style="border: 8px solid white;" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/KAHLO_thorns_lg.jpg" title="Frida Kahlo Thorns" alt="" /><br />
The best things in life are free and the free things in life are the best -- especially if you're broke as a joke or just hate wasting money.&nbsp; The Bay Area is a wonderfully resourceful place to find free things to do. Today, Sunday July 13th, you can go check out the new <a href="http://www.sfmoma.org/exhibitions/exhib_detail.asp?id=310">Frida Kahlo</a> exhibit at San Francisco's <a href="http://www.sfmoma.org/">Museum of Modern Art </a>(<strong>MoMA</strong>) for free, and it is just one of the many wonderful free things to do in the Bay Area this summer.<br />
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First Tuesdays of the month are when most (not all -- so always check in advance) major SF museums host free days. On July 1st, the most recent free first Tuesday at MoMA, I headed over in the hopes of catching both the general museum exhibits (which are highly recommended) and the recently opened one of Frida Kahlo's work (thru Sep 28), which spans the famed Mexican artist's career and also includes her own collection of photographs, most of which have never been displayed before.<br />
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When I arrived at the main entrance on 3rd Street, there was no cover charge and no line to get in to the general part of MoMA but the much (justifiably) hyped new Kahlo show had attracted an additional wallop of eager art fans who both had to line up (it moved fast) and pay an additional $5 (still good value) to see the Frida Kahlo exhibit. I inquired about seeing Frida for free and was informed by <strong>Jean Halverson </strong>at MoMA that July 13th would be the only completely free day to see that exhibit. But be forewarned: free often comes with some kind a price, usually standing in line for a bit -- so arrive prepared, and bring a book to read or snacks to share with your friends in line. At one ridiculously long wait for a one-time only exhibit in New York, a bunch of us in the slow long line had pizza delivered.<br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/frida-for-free-in-da-sfc-other-bay-area-freebies.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/frida-for-free-in-da-sfc-other-bay-area-freebies.html
Sun, 13 Jul 2008 18:19:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/frida-for-free-in-da-sfc-other-bay-area-freebies.htmlI HATE DRUM MACHINES, OR GOOD 80s BANDS 1Before <strong>Hanoi Rocks</strong>, guitarist <strong>Andy McCoy</strong> and bassist <strong>Sam Yaffa</strong> were playing with the (locally) famous Finnish punk band <strong>Pelle Miljoona Oy</strong>. This is a 1980 performance of the song &quot;Olen Kaunis&quot;:<br />
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<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed height="344" width="425" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6OxmusSvEqg&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0xcc2550&amp;color2=0xe87a9f" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
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The next clip is an early promotional video for the great &quot;Motorvatin'&quot; with original drummer <strong>Gyp Casino</strong>.&nbsp; This was also the best hair period for singer <strong>Mike Monroe</strong>. Surely, <strong>David Sylvian</strong> felt so inferior that he cut his mop off, resigning himself an artsier <strong>David</strong>-<strong>Bowie</strong>-circa-<em><strong>Low</strong></em> 'do. Nothing will make one give up glam faster than seeing a much prettier rival with a better head of hair. Just ask <strong>Brian Eno</strong>.<br />
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<object height="344" width="425">
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<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed height="344" width="425" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wa_cxeG8-a0&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0xcc2550&amp;color2=0xe87a9f" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
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The band replaced Gyp with the ill-fated <strong>Razzle</strong> on drums and the following is purportedly the first visual recording of his being with the band. They do &quot;It's Too Late&quot; (where they pretend to play each other's instruments) and <strong>The Damned</strong>'s &quot;Problem Child&quot;:<br />
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<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed height="344" width="425" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/el5atgAaOEg&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0xcc2550&amp;color2=0xe87a9f" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
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I searched high and low for a live performance of my favorite song, &quot;<a href="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=UCR4MLwz9vQ" target="_blank">Tooting Bec Wreck</a>,&quot; but couldn't find one. As a second choice from their greatest record, <em><strong>Back to Mystery City</strong></em>, here's &quot;Mental Beat&quot;:<br />
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<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed height="344" width="425" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xjAAlVX1Vzo&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0xcc2550&amp;color2=0xe87a9f" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
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I wasn't aware until traveling the byways of YouTube that a video for &quot;Boulevard of Broken Dreams&quot; existed, but here 'tis:<br />
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<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed height="344" width="425" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/XEiUbMqe250&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0xcc2550&amp;color2=0xe87a9f" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
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After <strong>Vince Neil </strong>&quot;vehicularly manslaughtered&quot; Razzle, the group broke up and went on to various other projects, the best of which was undoubtedly <strong>The Suicide Twins</strong>, featuring McCoy and fellow Hanoi guitarist <strong>Nasty Suicide</strong>. Their best song was &quot;Sweet Pretending,&quot; which is the best acoustic glam song that <strong>Jesus &amp; Mary Chain</strong> never recorded:<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<object height="344" width="425">
<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_oe-9M-dQDo&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0xcc2550&amp;color2=0xe87a9f" />
<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed height="344" width="425" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_oe-9M-dQDo&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0xcc2550&amp;color2=0xe87a9f" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
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Monroe struck up a friendship with <strong>Little Steven</strong> from the <strong>E Street Band</strong>, which eventually led to a short-lived punk band, <strong>Demolition 23</strong>. Little Steven left before much recording was done, but they did write an &uuml;ber-catchy pop punk song, &quot;Hammersmith Palais&quot;:<br />
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<object height="344" width="425">
<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4ewhIi2H084&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0xcc2550&amp;color2=0xe87a9f" />
<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed height="344" width="425" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4ewhIi2H084&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0xcc2550&amp;color2=0xe87a9f" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
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Finally, as McCoy was getting over a prolonged bout with alcohol and drugs (or, at least, learning to function better with them), he had a Finnish #1 single with the appropriately entitled &quot;Strung Out&quot;:<br />
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<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed height="344" width="425" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-hw0Wi715E0&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0xcc2550&amp;color2=0xe87a9f" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
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Monroe and McCoy would eventually reunite, but about the best that can be said of the new version of the band is that at least it's not <strong>Him</strong>.<br />http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/writings-from-the-holy-texan/i-hate-drum-machines-or-good-80s-bands-1.html
Sun, 13 Jul 2008 09:44:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/writings-from-the-holy-texan/i-hate-drum-machines-or-good-80s-bands-1.htmlNight Game<div align="center"><img alt="Night Game Movie Starring Roy Scheider" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/nightgamefront.jpg" />&nbsp; <img alt="Night Game Videocassette" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/nightgameback.jpg" /><br />
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<img alt="Night Game Roy Scheider" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/nightgamepic.jpg" /> <br />
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<img alt="Night Game Video Roy Scheider" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/nightgamedescript.jpg" /><br />
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Vidmark Entertainment VM46099<br />http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/night-game.html
Sat, 12 Jul 2008 23:35:38 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/night-game.htmlBody Beat<div align="center"><img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/bodybeatfront.jpg" alt="Body Beat Video Artwork" />&nbsp; <img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/bodybeatback.jpg" alt="Body Beat Dance Movie" /><br />
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<img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/bodybeatpic.jpg" alt="Body Beat Video" /><br />
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Vidmark Entertainment VM46099<br />http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/body-beat.html
Sat, 12 Jul 2008 06:32:18 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/body-beat.htmlKRIP-HOP PROJECT'S LEROY F MOORE ON BEING BLACK & DISABLED<img align="left" style="border: 8px solid white;" alt="Leroy Franklin Moore Jr." src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/284_leroy_web.jpg" title="Renaissance man: Leroy Franklin Moore Jr." /><br />
My name is <strong>Leroy Franklin Moore Jr.</strong>&nbsp; I was born in New York in 1967 and was born with a physical disability (cerebral palsy). Being both Black and disabled, I&rsquo;ve always had questions about race and disability.&nbsp;<br />
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I grew up in an activist family and became active in issues that faced my Black and disabled communities. At an early age I realized that both of my communities, Black and disabled, did not recognize each other and because of this fact I continued to search for some kind of balance with my two identities.<br />
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In school I found out that very few professors or students knew about Black disabled people in history -- from slavery, to the music industry, to activism. Outside of the educational system and my communities, I started to educate myself on the rich history of Black disabled people.&nbsp; <br />
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Because my father was into Black music, I started my research on Black disabled people in music and found out that most of the early blues artists were Black and blind or had other types of disabilities that forced them to make a living from singing on street corners all over the South and North: artists like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cripple_Clarence_Lofton"><strong>Cripple Clarence Lofton</strong> </a>who had polio but used to dance and was known as one of the creators of boogie-woogie piano.&nbsp; <br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img align="right" style="border: 8px solid white;" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/CCM04872.jpg" title="Blind and broke: blues great Cortella Clark" alt="Cortella Clark" /><br />
A lot of these Black disabled musicians didn&rsquo;t get their dues and were discriminated against. The story of <strong>Cortelia Clark</strong>, who was a blind blues singer, singing on the streets of Nashville, is one of many true stories of Black blind/disabled artists in the early stages of the development of the music industry. Although Clark won a Grammy for his 1967 song, the appropriately titled &quot;Blues in the Streets,&quot; he couldn&rsquo;t attend the ceremony because he couldn&rsquo;t afford to buy a ticket. The following day he was back on the streets trying to earn money to pay rent.<br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/krip-hop-project-s-leroy-f-moore-on-being-black-disabled.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/krip-hop-project-s-leroy-f-moore-on-being-black-disabled.html
Sat, 12 Jul 2008 02:40:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/krip-hop-project-s-leroy-f-moore-on-being-black-disabled.htmlPassing Strange<p><img align="left" alt="" style="border: 8px solid white;" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/PassingStrange.jpg" /><br />
First the bad news: <em><strong>Passing Strange</strong></em>, the critically acclaimed <strong>Broadway Show</strong> about a young musician&rsquo;s journey through sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, will close on July 20th in <strong>New York</strong> at the <strong>Belasco Theater.</strong> But the good news is that director <strong>Spike Lee</strong> plans on making a film version of the musical.</p>
<p>Written by native Angeleno and local musician <strong>Stew</strong> --who has played in such bands as <strong>Gutbucket,</strong> <strong>The Lullabies</strong> and most notably <strong>The Negro Problem</strong>-- and longtime musical collaborator <strong>Heidi Rodewald</strong>, formerly of <strong>Wednesday Week </strong>and also TNP, <em>Passing Strange</em> was originally work-shopped at the <strong>Sundance Institute</strong> in Utah and the <strong>Berkeley Repertory Theater </strong>in Berkeley before becoming an off-Broadway sensation last year.<em> Passing Strange</em> opened in February on Broadway to rave reviews and received seven <strong>Tony Award</strong> nominations, winning the prize for <strong>Best Book </strong>for its co-creator and star, Stew.</p>
<p>Overall, the musical will have played 165 performances and 20 previews by the time it closes at the Belasco Theater. Live stage footage will be shot on July 19 at both the matinee and evening performances, so all you west-coasters still have time to buy a plane ticket and reserve a couple of seats.</p>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><object height="344" width="425">
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Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:34:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/the-thing-of-a-thing-of-a-thing-/passing-strange.htmlSt. Louis Union <strong><a href="http://www.manchesterbeat.com/groups/stlouisunion/stlouisunion.php">St. Louis Union</a></strong> were a <strong>Manchester </strong>six piece fronted by impeccably-coifed singer, <strong>Tony Cassidy</strong>.&nbsp;Shortly&nbsp;after forming they&nbsp;won a <em><strong>Melody Maker</strong></em> beat contest in 1965 which scored them a deal with <strong>Decca</strong>. They were billed as &quot;THE Group on the Northern Soul Scene.&quot; Their sound was centered around <strong>Alex Kirby</strong>&#39;s tenor saxophone and <strong>Keith Millar</strong>&#39;s electric guitar backed by some serious organ by <strong>Dave Tomlinson,&nbsp;John Nichols</strong>&nbsp;on bass&nbsp;and <strong>Dave Webb</strong> on the skins.<br />
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Their live set was built around <strong>&quot;Turn On Your Lovelight,&quot; &quot;Woke Up This Morning,&quot; &quot;Every Day I Have the Blues&quot; </strong>and <strong>&quot;Get On the Right Track Baby</strong>.&quot;<br />
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Their name seems to be a reference to the <strong>St. Louis Union Station</strong>, a train station famous, like many things in St. Louis, as having been the biggest and busiest thing in its field way back when. Its archways are designed so that one can whisper into them and someone else can hear you clearly on the other end, a design feature with no apparent practical applications, save simple amusements in a simpler time. It was largely built of <strong>limestone</strong> taken from Indiana, probably just to remind the Hoosiers who&#39;s boss, as the state of Missouri is entirely made of limestone and they&#39;re the nation&#39;s leader in <strong>lime </strong>production.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<img alt="" height="292" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Eric_B/250px-Deweytruman12.jpg" width="377" /><br />
<span style="font-size: smaller;"><strong>Truman having a laugh at St. Louis Union Station</strong></span></div>
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In the 1970s, the station was bought by <strong>Amtrak</strong>. They ended operations soon afterward and relocated their operations to a building the unhealthily train-obsessed refer to as Amshack. Now it&#39;s a mall where tourists watch the guys at the Fudge Factory<strong> </strong>put on a show and the Footlocker has a basketball hoop with the backboard autographed by the<strong> D.O.C</strong>.<br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/eric-s-blog/st-louis-union-.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/eric-s-blog/st-louis-union-.html
Fri, 11 Jul 2008 04:24:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/eric-s-blog/st-louis-union-.htmlIsland Camping Festival Starring Michael HurleyJust wanted to say I found out there is an Island Camping Festival this Saturday, July 12 on Angel Island.&nbsp; It's pretty much impossible to find any info on this secretive fest, but...<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><img height="211" width="200" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Sarah/michael-hurley.jpg" alt="michael hurley angel island camping festival" title="Snock back in the day." /><img height="211" width="280" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Sarah/little-wings" alt="little wings kyle field angel island camping festival" title="Kyle Field, aka Little Wings, in a serious moment." /></div>
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...I do know that amongst the performers set to entertain those at the campgrounds on the island are <strong><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/blog/2007/04/all-the-news-that-s-fit-to-sing/michael-hurley-.html" target="_blank">Michael Hurley,</a> <a href="http://www.myspace.com/thesarees" target="_blank">The Sarees,</a> Lucky Dragons</strong>, <strong>Little Wings</strong> and maybe even<strong> Devendra Banhart</strong>!&nbsp; Of course, the few camp sites on the island are long reserved, but if you can find a way, this sounds like the definite hot ticket for the weekend.&nbsp; Hurley's songs alone were made for singing around the campfire, looking up at the stars.&nbsp; It's gonna be an island jamboree!<br />
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<br />http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/all-the-news-that-s-fit-to-sing/island-camping-festival-starring-michael-hurley.html
Thu, 10 Jul 2008 23:04:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/all-the-news-that-s-fit-to-sing/island-camping-festival-starring-michael-hurley.htmlLady Avenger<div align="center"><img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/ladyavengerfront.jpg" alt="Lady Avenger exploitation movie directed by David DeCoteau" />&nbsp; <img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/ladyavengerback.jpg" alt="Lady Avenger Video" /><br />
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<img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/ladyavengerpic2.jpg" alt="Lady Avenger starring Peggie Sanders" /> <br />
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<img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/ladyavengerdescript.jpg" alt="Lady Avenger plot synopsis" /> <br />
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<img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/ladyavengerpic.jpg" alt="Lady Avenger" /></div>
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South Gate Entertainment 1012P<br />http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/lady-avenger.html
Thu, 10 Jul 2008 23:01:31 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/lady-avenger.htmlout today 7/8...yaz!!!<img width="250" vspace="8" hspace="8" height="249" align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Brad/yazupstairsaterics.jpg" style="border: 3px solid purple;" alt="" /><br />
I still remember the first time that I ever heard <strong>Yaz</strong>. My cousin was driving me and my brother back home from my grandparents' house. It was 1982 and I was 8 years old. She was playing the <em><strong>Upstairs at Eric's</strong></em> cassette on her tape player. I immediately fell in love with the album even though I had never heard of them before. I had to ask her what it was. Luckily I was only 8 years old and didn't yet get embarrassed about not knowing the name of a band. I think I made my mom buy it for me as soon as I could find it. I really wasn't old enough to have seen them in concert anyway, but they never<img width="224" vspace="8" hspace="8" height="231" align="right" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Brad/yaz3.jpg" style="border: 3px solid purple;" alt="" /> came to the U.S. for a tour anyway. Yaz put out a second album, <em><strong>You and Me Both</strong></em>, in 1983. They broke up before they even had a chance to tour the UK with that album, so the world has really been waiting 25 years for this reunion! A couple years later I became a huge fan of both <strong>Depeche Mode</strong> and <strong>Erasure</strong>. I soon realized that <strong>Vince Clark </strong>was in all these bands and he quickly became one of my musical heroes. Not only did he help to create Depeche Mode and their debut album <em><strong>Speak <img width="200" vspace="8" hspace="8" height="194" align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Brad/yaz1.jpg" style="border: 3px solid purple;" alt="" />and Spell</strong>, </em>but he also went on to help create all of the Erasure albums with <strong>Andy Bell</strong>. I will go so far as to say that the world of new wave and electronic dance music might be a bit different if it were not for Vince Clark. He influenced tons of Industrial and electronica artists, even if they may not want to admit it.&nbsp; <br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/pen-is-mightier-than-the-sword/out-today-7-8-yaz-.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/pen-is-mightier-than-the-sword/out-today-7-8-yaz-.html
Thu, 10 Jul 2008 21:05:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/pen-is-mightier-than-the-sword/out-today-7-8-yaz-.htmlMondo Diablo!<span style="font-size: small;"><strong><span class="text">The New Beverly Cinema will be hosting a two week festival of films programmed by Academy Award winning screenwriter DIABLO CODY. This is the fourth in the theater's guest programming series, following Edgar Wright, Eli Roth and Joe Dante. <br />
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MONDO DIABLO will run from July 11-24, with many guest appearances plus introductions to many of the films by Diablo herself. <br />
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July 11-12<br />
</span></strong><span class="text">THANK YOU FOR SMOKING<br />
STRIPES</span><strong><span class="text"><br />
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July 13-15<br />
</span></strong><span class="text">LABYRINTH<br />
XANADU</span><strong><span class="text"><br />
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July 16-17<br />
</span></strong><span class="text">GIMME SHELTER<br />
GREY GARDENS</span><strong><span class="text"><br />
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July 18-19<br />
</span></strong><span class="text">NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3: THE DREAM WARRIORS<br />
FRIGHT NIGHT</span><strong><span class="text"><br />
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July 20-22<br />
</span></strong><span class="text">MIDNIGHT MADNESS<br />
WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER</span><strong><span class="text"><br />
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July 23-24<br />
</span></strong><span class="text">DESPERATELY SEEKING SUSAN<br />
PRETTY IN PINK</span><strong><span class="text"><br />
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More Information can be found at the New Beverly website: </span></strong></span><span class="text"><font size="3"><a href="http://www.newbevcinema.com"><span style="font-size: small;">http://www.newbevcinema.com</span></a></font><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/mondo-diablo-.html
Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:48:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/mondo-diablo-.htmlTHE LATE, GREAT AXL ROSE<div style="text-align: center;"><object height="344" width="425">
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Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:17:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/writings-from-the-holy-texan/the-late-great-axl-rose.htmlTracker's dusty and modern road songs on the cheap<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><strong>First find on the dock:</strong> This has been waiting in the wings for some time, in fact, it&rsquo;s a little bit of a redo, as it&rsquo;s a title I championed a few years ago in the <strong>Music We Like</strong> book. I&lsquo;ll take this opportunity to expand my earlier opinion.</span><br />
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</strong><span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>Tracker</strong> - <strong><em>Ames&nbsp;</em></strong> (Film Guerrero)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><img width="386" height="386" align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/beaver/tracker_ames.jpg" style="border: 8px solid white;" alt="Tracker Ames" /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Tracker is, basically, a guy from Portland, OR named <strong>John Askew&nbsp;</strong>(not to be confused with the DJ of the same name) and whoever he collects around him when he&rsquo;s ready to record and tour. This was the first album from 1999 and is almost completely played by Askew with some help from friends <strong>Adam Selzer (Norfolk &amp; Western) </strong>and <strong>Erik Herzog (Buellton)</strong>. I bought it solely on the strength of the album art and the weakness of the price tag. Thus, I was doubly rewarded.<br />
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In a number of ways there are similarities to the dynamics of <strong>Jason Molina&rsquo;s</strong><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><strong>Songs:Ohia/Magnolia Electric Company</strong> projects. Both are the aggregates of a single man&rsquo;s songwriting and organizational vision. Both have an undeniably roots Americana base, but with a lot of layering, whether it&rsquo;s voices, samples of classical music or electronic textures hazing around simple plucked banjo lines. Like Molina, Askew writes extremely strong melodies, and couples them with thoughtful and often mystifying lyrics. <br />
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The charm of <em><strong>Ames</strong></em> is due largely to its lack of self-seriousness. Askew lets a breath of ease into his writing and production. <strong>&ldquo;Evan&rsquo;s Getting It Together&rdquo;</strong> is driven with some lazy and seemingly living-room recorded handclaps that work perfectly to prove that, as beautiful and lush as the songs here sometimes get, they are being played by some guys who are just trying to make some cool songs that get into your head. In fact, some of the song transitions (and there is a lot of ambient connective tissue) remind me of the great also-overlooked <em><strong>Purple Blue</strong></em> by <strong>Eric&rsquo;s Trip</strong>, another group of dudes (and a dudette) who were just trying to make some cool songs.<br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/pearls-from-the-red-sea/tracker-s-dusty-and-modern-road-songs-on-the-cheap.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/pearls-from-the-red-sea/tracker-s-dusty-and-modern-road-songs-on-the-cheap.html
Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:14:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/pearls-from-the-red-sea/tracker-s-dusty-and-modern-road-songs-on-the-cheap.htmlPearls from the Red Sea: Treasures from the Clearance Sections<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img width="432" height="339" align="right" alt="buy four get one free , red tag, lonely, price, cheap, cds, clearance, redtag" style="border: 8px solid white;" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/beaver/pearls.jpg" /><br />
What does an Amoeba blog have to do with that busy inlet of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia? Not a damn thing, really. The <strong>Red Sea</strong> to which this blog refers is that reservoir of <strong>red price tags</strong> that floats somewhere in the vicinity of the checkout counters at all three stores--that beguiling ruby pond that calls to you with promises of Buying Three and getting the Fourth absolutely FREE! <br />
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It&rsquo;s a lonely sea, the <strong>Amoeba CD Clearance </strong>section, a bastard half-brother to the regular Rock or Soul or any genre section, really. But what I know, and I know that many of you know, too, is that CDs end up in the red tags for many reasons, many of which have nothing to do with the quality of the music on those sad, overlooked Lucite and aluminum discs. As it happens, some really great recordings sit around without the word getting out that they are great and need to be heard and cherished and talked about. <br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/pearls-from-the-red-sea/pearls-from-the-red-sea-treasures-from-the-clearance-sections.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/pearls-from-the-red-sea/pearls-from-the-red-sea-treasures-from-the-clearance-sections.html
Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:13:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/pearls-from-the-red-sea/pearls-from-the-red-sea-treasures-from-the-clearance-sections.htmlFirst Blood<div align="center"><img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/firstbloodbookfront.jpg" alt="first blood book cover david morrell" />&nbsp; <img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/firstbloodbookback2.jpg" alt="first blood book back cover" /><br />
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<img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/firstbloodbookback.jpg" alt="first blood book synopsis" /></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/first-blood.html
Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:32:21 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/first-blood.htmlSecret Society of the Sonic Six back on stage<div style="text-align: center;"><a target="_blank" href="http://www.sssonicsix.com"><img width="525" alt="" style="border: 5px solid red;" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/best4x5.jpg" /></a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/the-gone-world/secret-society-of-the-sonic-six-back-on-stage.html
Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:45:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/the-gone-world/secret-society-of-the-sonic-six-back-on-stage.htmlAMOEBA LOVE: BEST RECORD STORE <img align="left" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/logo-1.gif" />Since its inception <strong>Amoeba Music</strong> has received numerous awards for its three locations, Berkeley, San Francisco, and Hollywood, with the latest award going to the Berkeley Amoeba store which was voted &quot;Best Record Store&quot; by the <em><strong>East Bay Express</strong></em><strong> </strong>in their recent annual &quot;Best of the East Bay&quot;<em> </em>edition. <br />
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&quot;There is NO place like Amoeba, not even in New York,&quot; wrote the accompanying text for this award, which was all the more significant since it was in the &quot;Readers' Choice&quot; section &amp; hence was based on what a wide cross-section of <em>Express </em>readers sincerely think about Amoeba Music.<br />
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To help celebrate this latest award for the store, Amoeba will be part of the big <a href="http://www.amoeba.com/content/best-of-the-bay.html">party this Friday </a>(July 11th) from 7PM until midnight at the <strong>Oakland Museum of California</strong> at 1000 Oak Street, where all of the winners in the <em>East Bay Express'&nbsp;</em> recent &quot;best of the East Bay&quot; awards will be honored. If you go - and you should - be sure to stop by the Amoeba Music booth where you can say wassup and register to win free prizes, <br />
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The actual theme of this party is &quot;Old School&quot; and hence such classic acts from from back in the day as <strong>Flipper</strong> and <strong>The Uptones </strong>-- the longtime East Bay ska outfit who formed back in 1981 when most of its members were still attending <strong>Berkeley High School.</strong> Below is a video clip of the Uptones nowadays with them performing &quot;Skanking Fool&quot;&nbsp; a year ago at the Metro in Oakland - a location currently closed.&nbsp; Others performing at this big mixed arts event include <strong>Dyloot </strong>(<strong>Deep Voices</strong>) and <strong>Destroyer.</strong><br />
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<img width="275" height="206" align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/brandi-shearer_l.jpg" title="Brandi Shearer - AMOEBA artist" style="border: 8px solid white;" alt="Brandi Shearer - Amoeba artist" /> <br />
Others on the bill for Friday's big and FREE event (meaning get there early, as it will likely be mobbed) include<strong> The Shoreshoes, Monarchs</strong>, and talented longtime Oakland hip-hop <strong>DJ Malachi.</strong> <br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/amoeba-love-best-record-store-.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/amoeba-love-best-record-store-.html
Wed, 09 Jul 2008 01:32:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/amoeba-love-best-record-store-.htmlWall-eThanks to my 6 year old stepson's interest, I saw <em><strong>Wall-e</strong></em> over the weekend.<img width="350" align="right" style="border: 8px solid white;" alt="wall-e" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Sarah/wall-e.jpg" /><br />
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Pixar sure is proud of its latest. The movie was alright, I suppose. It got two thumbs up from my stepson, so I guess I should lead with that. The actual kid among us viewers enjoyed himself a great deal throughout the film, practically dropping his well-ketchuped challah dog because he was so transfixed. There's a lot of amazing visuals in this film, whether you are floating in outer space or checking out the inside of a humongous space craft. Then there's also all those crazy futuristic inventions that spark imaginations. I think that's part of what makes it interesting and gripping for kids.<br />
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I, on the other hand, was a little bored...but I think this stems from my general lifelong inability to connect to stories about robots -- even robots with humanizing features like the ones in <em>Wall-e</em>. In fact, maybe in part <em>because</em> they were 'bots mysteriously programmed with emotions and sad, down turned eyes, I was even less likely to get sucked into the movie cause it felt kinda silly. I found myself wracking my brain to figure out whose voice one of the main characters was...and eventually, all that wracking paid off: it's <strong>Jeff Garlin</strong> from <strong><em>Curb Your Enthusiasm</em></strong>! I knew I'd heard that particular sputter before, usually following his wife on the show Suzie's rampant and dagger-like chiding.<br />
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The plot of <em>Wall-e</em> is noble, though, I guess. (It really wants to be, for sure.) Earth is no longer inhabitable and it's <img width="300" align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Sarah/wall-e-and-eve" alt="Wall-e and Eve hold hands" title="Robots hold hands, too!" style="border: 8px solid white;" />piled with garbage and thick with smog. Wall-e is a lonely little trash compactor with a penchant for collecting-- he might be a bigger hoarder than my dad! His only friend is a cockroach who hides in a Twinkie every time there's an apocalyptic explosion (often). (And actually my favorite detail of the entire film.&nbsp; I kept waiting for Cher to show up though too!) When Wall-e finds a white (oh, so pure!) floating pod-like fem'bot that was left behind by a mysterious space ship, he brings &quot;her&quot; home and they bond as only anthropomorphic robots can. When &quot;Eve&quot; sees the tiny, growing plant Wall-e has recently found in his trash piles, she grabs it, pulls it inside of her &quot;belly&quot; and eventually is plucked up by her space ship. Wall-e goes for a ride with the ship, eventually discovering that humans now live in a gigantic space ship, their every convenience accounted for, to the point where they are all fat and don't know how to walk or read anymore. I appreciated the social commentary of the movie and what it said about where our society is headed, but the whole plot just felt kinda flimsy, like an excuse for the visuals.&nbsp; <br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/all-the-news-that-s-fit-to-sing/wall-e.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/all-the-news-that-s-fit-to-sing/wall-e.html
Wed, 09 Jul 2008 01:29:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/all-the-news-that-s-fit-to-sing/wall-e.htmlBloodmatch<div align="center"><img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/bloodmatchfront.jpg" alt="bloodmatch video cover front" />&nbsp; <img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/bloodmatchback.jpg" alt="bloodmatch video cover back" /><br />
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HBO Video 0187908http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/bloodmatch.html
Tue, 08 Jul 2008 17:57:58 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/bloodmatch.htmlMinistry Of Vengeance<div align="center"><img alt="Ministry Of Vengeance Video Starring John Schneider" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/ministryofvengeancefront.jpg" />&nbsp; <img alt="Ministry Of Vengeance Video" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/ministryofvengeanceback.jpg" /><br />
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Media Home Entertainment M012462http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/ministry-of-vengeance.html
Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:13:02 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/ministry-of-vengeance.htmlItalian Giallo Festival July 11-24<img align="left" alt="" height="158" hspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/BIRDW-CRYSTALPLUMAGE.jpg" vspace="5" width="250" /><br />
Film fans in Los Angeles take note, the Egyptian is screening some very rare and completely amazing Giallo this month.<br />
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For those of you unfamiliar with the genre a quick search on Wikipedia comes up with this:<br />
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<b>Giallo</b> (pronounced <small>IPA</small>:&nbsp;<span class="IPA" title="Pronunciation in IPA"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA" title="Help:IPA">[&#39;&#676;allo]</a></span>) is an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy" title="Italy">Italian</a> 20th century <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genre" title="Genre">genre</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literature" title="Literature">literature</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film" title="Film">film</a>. It is closely related to the French <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantastique" title="Fantastique">fantastique</a> genre, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_fiction" title="Crime fiction">crime fiction</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_fiction" title="Horror fiction">horror fiction</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eroticism" title="Eroticism">eroticism</a>. The term is also used to mean an example of the genre, in which case it can take the Italian plural <i><b>gialli</b></i>. The word <i><a class="extiw" href="http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/giallo" title="it:giallo">giallo</a></i> is Italian for &quot;yellow&quot; (see <a class="extiw" href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/giallo" title="wiktionary:giallo">Wiktionary: giallo</a>) and stems from the genre&#39;s origin in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paperback" title="Paperback">paperback</a> novels with yellow covers.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
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All genres have their fair share of crap to wade through, but I feel Giallo is one of the most difficult. It&#39;s a catch all genre that DVD companies and, in the past, tape traders padded full of dull &quot;action films,&quot; painful &quot;horror&quot; and sleep inducing &quot;sexploitation.&quot; Aaah, but like a good Roughie, when you find the right film, it&#39;s well worth the wade through the dirty waters. Although the Egyptian festival is by no means complete, it&#39;s an amazing selection.There are so many interesting, if not great, Giallos that it would take an annual festival to really do it right....Anyone listening???<br />
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Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:30:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/the-gone-world/italian-giallo-festival-july-11-24.htmlBILLY JAM'S WEEKLY HIP-HOP ROUND UP: 7:06:08<img width="305" height="305" align="left" title="Not to be confused with the Metallica album with a similar name. " style="border: 8px solid white;" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/15556_b.jpg" alt=" Little Brother's new album &quot;...and justus for all&quot;" /> <strong><br />
Juan</strong> in the hip-hop department at <strong>Amoeba Music Berkeley</strong> reports that two of the hottest selling new albums at the East Bay store this past week were <strong>Little Brother</strong>'s <em><strong>...and justus for all</strong> </em>and <em><strong>The 3rd Degree</strong></em> by <a href="http://www.amoeba.com/blog/2008/06/jamoeblog/immortal-technique-keeps-revolutionary-rap-s-flag-flying-.html"><strong>Immortal Technique,</strong></a> which includes cameos from <strong>Chino XL, Ras Kass</strong>, and <strong>Crooked I</strong> and production courtesy of&nbsp; <strong>Green Lantern</strong>, plus <strong>Buckwild (DITC), Scram Jones,</strong> and<strong> Southpaw</strong>.<br />
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North Carolina's <strong>Phonte </strong>and <strong>Rapper Big Pooh</strong> are reportedly releasing a total of five albums between them this year, both collaboratively and solo, including just one jointly under their group name, Little Brother. <br />
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The tight new album .<em>..and justus for all</em> is actually a kind of re-release since it came out last year with the same title in a (slightly different) mixtape format, which<em> </em>was overseen by DJ<strong> Mick Boogie</strong>. Released on Hall Of Justus, the new version of<em> ...and justus for all </em>has been cleaned up to a crispy clean sound via re-mastering. It also includes five new Little Brother songs that were not<img width="170" height="170" align="right" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/mikeboogielilbrother.jpg" title="Cover of last year's Mick Boogie mix tape version of &quot;...and justus for all.&quot;" style="border: 8px solid white;" alt="" /> on the 2007 mixtape version of <em>...and justus for all</em>.<br />
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Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:04:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/billy-jam-s-weekly-hip-hop-round-up-7-06-08.htmlSummer Nights In L.A. Part 2<center> <a target="_blank" href="http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n2/gomezcomesalive/rebellion/dancers.jpg"> <img src="http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n2/gomezcomesalive/rebellion/th_dancers.jpg" alt="" /></a> <a target="_blank" href="http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n2/gomezcomesalive/rebellion/endofevening.jpg"> <img src="http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n2/gomezcomesalive/rebellion/th_endofevening.jpg" alt="" /></a> <a target="_blank" href="http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n2/gomezcomesalive/rebellion/ericdj.jpg"> <img src="http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n2/gomezcomesalive/rebellion/th_ericdj.jpg" alt="" /></a> <a target="_blank" href="http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n2/gomezcomesalive/rebellion/gazoo.jpg"> <img src="http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n2/gomezcomesalive/rebellion/th_gazoo.jpg" alt="" /></a> <br />
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<a target="_blank" href="http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n2/gomezcomesalive/rebellion/raymc.jpg"> <img src="http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n2/gomezcomesalive/rebellion/th_raymc.jpg" alt="" /></a> <a target="_blank" href="http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n2/gomezcomesalive/rebellion/umo.jpg"> <img src="http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n2/gomezcomesalive/rebellion/th_umo.jpg" alt="" /></a> </center>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/los-angeles-me/summer-nights-in-l-a-part-2.html
Mon, 07 Jul 2008 07:14:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/los-angeles-me/summer-nights-in-l-a-part-2.htmlSummer Nights In L.A.<img vspace="10" hspace="10" align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Gomez/seun.jpeg" style="width: 317px; height: 296px;" alt="" /> <br />
This has been the summer of too much&hellip;too much to do in L.A., that is. In a summer of record gas cost and rising inflation, we are all looking for an escape. Maybe our plans for traveling have been put on hold due to the economy, but it doesn&rsquo;t mean we all can&rsquo;t have fun, right? It&rsquo;s just now we have to wait for the fun to come to us.<br />
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June 20th marked the arrival of <strong><a href="http://www.myspace.com/seunkuti">Seun Kuti</a> </strong>to Los Angeles. There were a record number of people at the show at Grand Performances, not only for Seun but for the price (free).<br />
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Seun performed with <strong>Egypt 80</strong>, <strong>Fela Kuti&rsquo;s </strong>last band before his premature death. Since Fela&rsquo;s death more than 10 years ago Seun has been performing with the group, and this was their first time in Los Angeles. Egypt 80 is the real deal. Not to knock bands such as <strong>Antibalas</strong> and <strong>The Budos Band</strong> who play Afro-Beat (and do it quite well, I should add), but there is nothing like hearing Afro-Beat being performed by the people who have been doing it for years. About five thousand plus were absolutely losing it. The dance floor was packed to near capacity and people were dancing in the pools that separated the people from the group. <br />
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The next day (Saturday) I went to <strong>MOCA</strong> for their <strong><a href="http://www.moca.org/cinemoca/">CineMoca</a> </strong>series. For $10 you can check out the featured movie the exhibits inside The Geffen Contemporary. On this particular night, MOCA featured a mash-up of two similar themed movies created by Los Angeles&ndash;based artist <strong>Edgar Arceneaux</strong>. The two movies, <em><strong>Dave Chappelle&rsquo;s Block Party</strong></em><strong> </strong>and <em><strong>Wattstax,</strong></em><strong> </strong>seamlessly flowed in and out of each other much like a DJ mix and created its own movie -- from <strong>Rufus Thomas </strong>to <strong>Mos Def,</strong> <strong>The Bar Kays</strong> to <strong>Erykah Badu,</strong> <strong>Dave Chappelle</strong> to <strong>Richard Pryor</strong>. I love seeing movies outdoors, so this was a treat for me. On top of that, I met one of my favorite writers at showing. Her name is <strong>Marisela Norte</strong>. Marisela has been a big inspiration on not only my writing, but also how I look at life. She was part of infamous <strong>ASCO </strong>artist group back in the 80&rsquo;s and her <em><strong>Norte/Word</strong></em><strong> </strong>spoken word CD released on <strong>Freeway Records</strong> is a classic. It is way out of print but if you can find it I suggest it most highly. <br />
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Mon, 07 Jul 2008 05:35:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/los-angeles-me/summer-nights-in-l-a-.htmlProgrammed To Kill<div align="center"><img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/programmedtokillfront.jpg" alt="Programmed To Kill Starring Sandahl Bergman &amp; Robert Ginty" />&nbsp; <img src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Phil/programmedtokillback.jpg" alt="Programmed To Kill Starring Sandahl Bergman &amp; Robert Ginty" /><br />
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Media Home Entertainment M927<br />http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/programmed-to-kill.html
Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:40:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/programmed-to-kill.htmlThe Glass Is Half Wack: The Wackness (2008)<div style="text-align: center;"><strong><img height="281" width="450" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Charles/wackness-poster.jpg" alt="" /><br />
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</strong><em><strong>Wackness</strong></em> is about white teens in the first half of the 90s who say stuff like, &quot;You only see the wackness; I see the dopeness.&quot; They're in their 30s now, so the nostalgia is ripe. It was the period when the classical tradition in rap was giving way to the method acting mumbling of gangster wannabes selling the &ldquo;real&rdquo; to undergraduates. In a nod to Vincent Price famously referring to the method actors as &quot;the mumblers,&quot; either <strong>Big Daddy Kane</strong> or <strong>Chuck D</strong> once lamented the fact that so many of the contemporary MCs gargled into the microphone. Anyhow, the film's soundtrack reminded me of why I started to hate commercial rap (not that I needed the reminding). Each line <strong>Big E</strong> wheezes brings him one step closer to a cardiac arrest and me to the door.&nbsp; But, in trying to see the dopeness -- this movie wasn't <em>Hancock</em>, after all -- I soldiered on. I will draw the line at Sundance films set in a Lilith Fair concert.<br />
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So, the story: Luke (<strong>Josh Peck</strong>) is a pot dealer who&rsquo;s just graduated from high school in the first year of <strong>Giuliani</strong>&rsquo;s Manhattan. This is one of those introspective comedies (&agrave; la <strong><em>Little Miss Sunshine</em></strong>) that dominate Landmark&rsquo;s arthouse chain, so Luke&rsquo;s one and only friend is his psychiatrist, Dr. Squires (<strong>Ben Kingsley</strong>, supposedly a Brooklyn Jew, but looking like <strong>Cheech Marin</strong> circa<em> <strong>Up In Smoke</strong></em> with an accent that slips into British, Indian caricature and Classic Hollywood Nazi). Luke trades the doc dope for counseling. Luke&rsquo;s problems are that no one is his friend outside of wanting drugs from him and he can&rsquo;t get laid. One such &ldquo;friend&rdquo; is the hip hop Asian character who functions as the foil for Luke&rsquo;s romantic interest in Squires&rsquo; step-daughter, Stephanie (<strong>Olivia Thirlby</strong>). Another is nuevo hippie chick Union (<strong>Mary-Kate Olsen</strong>, the same twin &ndash; I checked &ndash; who plays the same character on<em> <strong>Weeds</strong></em>).<br />
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Sun, 06 Jul 2008 03:42:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/writings-from-the-holy-texan/the-glass-is-half-wack-the-wackness-2008-.html(Belated) Herbie Mann Memorial<a target="_blank" href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/discotheque.jpg"><img height="169" width="173" align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/discotheque.jpg" alt="" /></a><a target="_blank" href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/discothequeback.jpg"><img height="169" width="173" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/discothequeback.jpg" alt="" /></a><a target="_blank" href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/gloryoflove2.jpg"><img height="169" width="176" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/gloryoflove2.jpg" alt="" /></a><br />
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<a target="_blank" href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/push.jpg"><img height="513" width="522" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/push.jpg" alt="" /></a><br />http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/the-gone-world/-belated-herbie-mann-memorial.html
Sat, 05 Jul 2008 18:50:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/the-gone-world/-belated-herbie-mann-memorial.htmlout today...7/1...mad men...swingtown...<img width="150" vspace="8" hspace="8" height="226" align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Brad/pattismith.jpg" style="border: 3px solid red;" alt="" /><br />
There have been so many new albums out in the last couple months, and we have some really exciting things to look forward to as well -- new albums from <strong>Ratatat</strong> and <strong>Beck</strong> next week, and a new box set from <strong>Yaz</strong> next week as well, which I will most likely be talking about. Yaz is also playing in Los Angeles next week and you know that I will of course be there. I have never seen them before and I am sure that this will be my only chance. There is also this new album next week from <strong>Kevin Shields</strong> of My Bloody Valentine and <strong>Patti Smith</strong>! I am very curious. Not exactly two people that I would expect to work together, but I love them both! Should be interesting. July 22nd is the date that the <strong>Dead Can<img width="225" vspace="8" hspace="8" height="138" align="right" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Brad/kevinshields.jpg" style="border: 3px solid red;" alt="" /> Dance</strong> reissues finally come out. It breaks my heart a little bit that those albums have not been in print for a little while. I imagine some young kid coming into the store, trying to explore the world of Dead Can Dance and only finding the greatest hits sort of collection. Luckily, we have the used CDs in the meantime. I can't imagine my life without these Dead Can Dance albums and am happy to know they will soon be joining us again in record store land. There is a new <strong>Faint</strong> album on August 5th as well as the solo debut from <strong>Conor Oberst</strong> from Bright Eyes, but this week there is really nothing out in the land of music. At least nothing for me. There are new albums from G-Unit, J*Davey, Alkaline Trio, Deltron 3030, and Earlimart, but they are not exactly the albums that get me excited. It has been a while since there has been a week like this, but I guess it is bound to happen every once in a while, s<img width="200" vspace="8" hspace="8" height="256" align="left" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Brad/madmendvd.jpg" />o I am forced to move my attention to DVDs-- and there is one excellent TV show out on DVD this week that I absolutely love. If you have not seen<a href="http://www.amctv.com/originals/madmen/"> <em><strong>Mad Men</strong></em></a> yet, now is the time!<br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/pen-is-mightier-than-the-sword/out-today-7-1-mad-men-swingtown-.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/pen-is-mightier-than-the-sword/out-today-7-1-mad-men-swingtown-.html
Fri, 04 Jul 2008 22:41:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/pen-is-mightier-than-the-sword/out-today-7-1-mad-men-swingtown-.htmlHappy Fourth of July! -- In which various VHS and DVD titles are suggested...<p align="center"><img height="292" width="162" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Eric_B/1312691.jpg" />&nbsp;<img height="295" width="216" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Eric_B/t02292iqnme1.jpg" />&nbsp;<img height="294" width="165" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Eric_B/v35715enxqs1.jpg" /><br />
&nbsp;</p>
<img style="width: 177px; height: 258px;" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Eric_B/burnbutchersapron.jpg" /> <img style="width: 377px; height: 258px;" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Eric_B/0537507300.jpg" />
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 128);"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>These chaps have the right idea!</strong></span></span>&nbsp;</p>
<p><img height="275" width="153" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Eric_B/v32467gnntk1.jpg" />&nbsp;<img height="277" width="208" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Eric_B/u59733hbl0b1.jpg" />&nbsp;<img height="277" width="198" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Eric_B/t0740777mm21.jpg" /><br />
<br />
<embed height="344" width="425" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GBltRtYCws8&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed> <br />
<br />
&nbsp;<img height="250" width="179" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Eric_B/t60308cnnsy1.jpg" />&nbsp;<img height="252" width="182" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Eric_B/t47652leu8e1.jpg" />&nbsp;<img height="256" width="194" alt="" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Eric_B/t32460k5c8i1.jpg" /><br />
<br />
Some &quot;Cut &amp; Run&quot; types think it's ok to celebrate such other July 4th holidays such as:<br />
<br />
<span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"><strong>Filipino - American Friendship Day<br />
Day of Agwe - Haiti<br />
Birthday of Queen Sonja - Norway <br />
Commemoration of Jewish Genocide - Latvia<br />
Family Day - Lesotho<br />
Fisherman's Day - Marshall Islands<br />
Independence Day - Rwanda<br />
King's Day - Tonga </strong></span><br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/eric-s-blog/happy-fourth-of-july-in-which-various-vhs-and-dvd-titles-are-suggested-.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/eric-s-blog/happy-fourth-of-july-in-which-various-vhs-and-dvd-titles-are-suggested-.html
Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:32:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/eric-s-blog/happy-fourth-of-july-in-which-various-vhs-and-dvd-titles-are-suggested-.htmlThe Employee Interview Part XVIII: Don <strong>Don<br />
8ish years employment (&quot;It's all a blur...&quot;)<br />
Floor Manager Extraordinaire<br />
<br />
Miss Ess: What have you been listening to lately?</strong><img height="163" width="250" align="right" alt="adele" style="border: 8px solid white;" title="Adele." src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Sarah/adele" /><br />
<br />
<strong>Don</strong>: I've been listening to <strong>Adele</strong>, <strong><em>Sex &amp; the City </em>Soundtrack</strong>, <strong>Duffy </strong>and the new <strong>Kathy Griffin</strong> LP [<strong><em>For Your Consideration</em></strong>].<br />
<br />
<strong>ME: What dance track changed your life?</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Don</strong>: <strong>Donna Summer</strong>'s <em>Once Upon a Time</em> was the dance album that changed my life. Not only because I realized I liked dance music but it was also the time I realized I like boys.<br />
<br />
<strong>What album or song is your favorite to dance around to?</strong><br />
<br />
Wow what <em>is </em>my favorite dance lp? Hhhmm-- there are so many, but the stand out is probably &quot;Dance This Mess Around&quot; by the <strong>B52</strong>'s. It's so much fun.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<embed height="344" width="425" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6QpiGh76zTk&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></div>
<br />
<strong><img width="250" align="left" alt="billy ray martin" style="border: 8px solid white;" title="Billy Ray Martin." src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Sarah/billy-ray-martin" /><br />
What lesser-known or forgotten artists should people seek out in the dance section?</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Billy Ray Martin</strong> or <strong>Sophie Ellis-Bextor</strong> are two that spring to mind. Billy Ray is from <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electribe_101"><strong>Electribe 101</strong></a> which was an amazing band also. Sophie is a current British pop dance diva.<br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/all-the-news-that-s-fit-to-sing/the-employee-interview-part-xviii-don-.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/all-the-news-that-s-fit-to-sing/the-employee-interview-part-xviii-don-.html
Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:25:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/all-the-news-that-s-fit-to-sing/the-employee-interview-part-xviii-don-.htmlThe Kids of Widney High<font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 12px;">I have the good fortune to be part of the in-store crew here at Amoeba San Francisco, and this affords me <img width="300" height="199" align="right" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Nor Cal Bloggers/raconteurs-amoeba-instore" title="Jack White rocks Amoeba SF." style="border: 8px solid white;" alt="" />many opportunities to do one of my favorite things ever: see live music. <br />
<br />
I&rsquo;ve seen some bands that I GREATLY admire (<strong><a href="javascript:void(0);/*1215113840484*/">Earth</a></strong>, <strong><a href="javascript:void(0);/*1215113869154*/">High on Fire</a></strong>, The Raconteurs, <strong><a href="javascript:void(0);/*1215113897268*/">Thurston Moore</a></strong>, <strong><a href="javascript:void(0);/*1215113928518*/">The Breeders</a></strong>, <strong><a href="javascript:void(0);/*1215113950694*/">Boris</a></strong>, <strong><a href="javascript:void(0);/*1215113972502*/">The Dirtbombs</a></strong>&hellip; the list goes on), some bands that I&rsquo;m unimpressed with (I&rsquo;ll keep those to myself), and sometimes it&rsquo;s something I&rsquo;ve never heard before, but it&rsquo;s always something different and new. <br />
<br />
One factor that can affect my experience as a viewer is whether or not the performers are having fun and are excited to be here. When artists are psyched up for the unique experience of an Amoeba instore, it makes their show all the better for everyone!<br />
<br />
</span></font>
<div align="center"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><img width="400" align="middle" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Nor Cal Bloggers/Kids-of-Whidney-High.png" alt="" />&nbsp; </span></font></div>
<font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> <br />
What is the point of this personal rambling, you might be asking yourself? Well, this coming Sunday, July 6 at 2pm,<strong> <a href="javascript:void(0);/*1215114031262*/">The Kids Of Widney High</a> </strong>are going to be performing LIVE for FREE, and I can&rsquo;t wait to see them. Have I ever seen them before? Nope. But I did watch the <a href="javascript:void(0);/*1215113799765*/">video for &ldquo;Pretty Girls</a>&rdquo; on the Amoeba Website. After that I wanted to see more, so I clicked over to YouTube and found this mini-documentary about the school and the songwriting class that has created this group. It&rsquo;s worth watching the entire thing, but be sure to check out just after the 9 minute mark, when former member<strong> Shantel Brown</strong> says &ldquo;&hellip;and I hope they get to go back to San Francisco again.&rdquo;&nbsp; WHAT?!?! Are they going to be way excited to be here? That makes ME all the more excited&hellip; I think YOU should come by and check it out. There&rsquo;s nothing like a room full of people who love music, is there?<br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/people-s-republic-of-northern-california/the-kids-of-widney-high.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/people-s-republic-of-northern-california/the-kids-of-widney-high.html
Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:30:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/people-s-republic-of-northern-california/the-kids-of-widney-high.htmlaudio specialists<a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/mic.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="170" width="171" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/mic.jpg" alt="" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/riversiderecord.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="3" height="170" width="175" vspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/riversiderecord.jpg" alt="" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/williamB.williamslabel.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="170" width="171" vspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/williamB.williamslabel.jpg" alt="" /></a><br />
<br />
Ribbon mics, reel tapes, jukeboxes, tubes &amp; radio transmission towers- the embodiment of old world recording cool.&nbsp; Hell, we even have an &quot;Olde World Records&quot; in this bunch.&nbsp; People have long&nbsp; fetishized recording and audio gear, these labels are a testament to such interesting interests.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/goldenagelabel(mic_.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="170" width="171" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/goldenagelabel(mic_.jpg" alt="" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/riversidebluelabl.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="4" height="170" vspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/riversidebluelabl.jpg" alt="" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/pualwhitemanrecordlabel.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="170" width="173" vspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/pualwhitemanrecordlabel.jpg" alt="" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/youngpeopleslabel.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="170" width="171" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/youngpeopleslabel.jpg" alt="" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/IRS.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="4" height="170" width="174" vspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/IRS.jpg" alt="" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/fonzie.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="170" width="170" vspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/fonzie.jpg" alt="" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/glassmoonlabel.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="170" width="171" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/glassmoonlabel.jpg" alt="" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/audiolabel(tube).jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="170" width="172" vspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/audiolabel(tube).jpg" alt="" /></a><a href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/radiorecords.jpg" target="_blank"><img hspace="5" height="170" width="171" vspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/radiorecords.jpg" alt="" /></a><br />
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/ian.jpg"><img hspace="4" height="172" width="169" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/ian.jpg" alt="" /></a><a target="_blank" href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/abottlabel.jpg"><img hspace="5" height="172" width="172" vspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/abottlabel.jpg" alt="" /></a><a target="_blank" href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/sterolabel.jpg"><img hspace="6" height="172" width="174" vspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/sterolabel.jpg" alt="" /></a><br />
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/kenboothe.jpg"><img hspace="5" height="125" width="125" vspace="5" align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/kenboothe.jpg" alt="" /></a><a target="_blank" href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/oldeworld.jpg"><img hspace="5" height="125" width="126" vspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/oldeworld.jpg" alt="" /></a><a target="_blank" href="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/delrio.jpg"><img hspace="5" height="125" width="123" vspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/delrio.jpg" alt="" /><img hspace="5" height="125" vspace="5" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/Chad/theeternals.jpg" alt="" /></a>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/the-gone-world/audio-specialists.html
Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:00:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/the-gone-world/audio-specialists.htmlIAN CURTIS' HEADSTONE STOLEN<img align="left" alt="" style="border: 8px solid white;" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/6a00d83451f25369e200e55180b59d8834-800wi.jpg" /><br />
In a creepy crime similar to an incident that happened to the late <strong>Mac Dre</strong>'s resting place three years ago when the slain Vallejo rapper's headstone was stolen, the gravestone of former <strong>Joy Division</strong> front man<strong> Ian Curtis</strong> was stolen sometime between yesterday and this morning from the <strong>Macclesfield Cemetery</strong> in Cheshire, England.<br />
<br />
As reported earlier today by the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/7486280.stm">BBC</a>, &quot;Detectives said the stone, which has the inscription &quot;Ian Curtis 18 -5 -80&quot; and the words &quot;Love Will Tear Us Apart&quot; was taken...There is no CCTV in the area and there are no apparent leads as to who is responsible for the theft.&quot; <br />
<br />
The local authorities went on to speculate that the recent surge in interest in the singer might have led to<img width="130" vspace="6" hspace="6" height="176" align="right" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/medium_curtis-thumb-1.jpg" alt="" /> the unusual theft. Last year's biopic on the singer, <strong><em>Control,</em></strong> and the documentary, <em><strong>Joy Division</strong></em>, which was released earlier this year, have both undoubtedly led to an increase in interest in the talented Curtis, who hung himself in the kitchen of his nearby Macclesfield home back in May 1980 when he was 23. Cheshire police have pleaded with anyone who has information to contact them.<br />
<br />
This incident brings to mind both the theft of <strong>Jim Morrison</strong>'s headstone from <strong>P&rsquo;re Lachaise Cemetery</strong> in Paris in 1990, and the aforementioned <strong>Andre</strong> (Mac Dre) <strong>Hicks</strong> graveside robbery from Oakland's <strong>Mountain View Cemetery</strong> in 2005.&nbsp;<strong> </strong>Despite the fact that a large reward was posted for the recovery of Mac Dre's headstone (and a beat-down promised if the perp was ever caught), the headstone was never recovered. Eventually it was replaced with a new one that was tightly secured.http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/ian-curtis-headstone-stolen.html
Wed, 02 Jul 2008 23:53:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/ian-curtis-headstone-stolen.htmlEMPHASIS ON "CELEBRATION" AT 2008 SF LGBT PRIDE PARTY&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <img align="middle" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/TantraTranceStage-butmoreelectrofunkyhouse1.jpg" title="Dancin' in the (Hyde) street with the Tantra Underground Dance Stage DJs" alt="" /><br />
<br />
Not only was Sunday's incredibly fun, huge rave-scale <em><strong>2008 San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration &amp; Parade</strong></em> the best party of the year so far but it was also a landmark historic event: one that marked the <strong>California Supreme Court </strong>very recently making it legal (second to Massachusetts) <img width="400" height="316" align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/JustMarriedonFriday@CityHall1.jpg" style="border: 8px solid white;" title="One of the 1,424 same-sex couples that sought marriage licenses in SF between June 17 - 30, 2008" alt="" />for same-sex couples to marry. And this significant step forward (in a long uphill battle) for human rights clearly was prominently on the minds of the revelers who descended upon San Francisco this past weekend.<br />
<br />
Sunday afternoon's giant celebration was essentially a really, really large wedding party since so many in attendance had just gotten hitched in the days leading up to the event. Included were the happy couple pictured left in front of City Hall where, they cheerfully informed me, they had gotten married two days before.<br />
<br />
The first part of Sunday's mega-event was the long colorful parade that slowly snaked down Market and left onto Eighth Street, and along whose route <strong>Mayor Gavin Newsom</strong> got numerous ovations for his role in pushing the envelope in the same-sex marriage issue, starting four years ago shortly after he took<img width="199" height="161" align="right" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/CityHallGayFlag1.jpg" style="border: 8px solid white;" title="Two powerful symbols of gay rights in San Francisco" alt="" /> office. <br />
<br />
The parade was immediately followed by the &quot;celebration&quot; portion of the long fun afternoon. This giant party kicked into gear from the get-go and the energy didn't let up all day. The sprawling celebration extended for blocks in every direction and featured over twenty different stages in addition to countless spaces and booths that took over all the streets around the Civic Center area of downtown San Francisco. <br />
<br /><div style="clear: both;"><a style="font-size:13px;" href="/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/emphasis-on-celebration-at-2008-sf-lgbt-pride-party.html">Continue reading...</a></div>http://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/emphasis-on-celebration-at-2008-sf-lgbt-pride-party.html
Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:00:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/emphasis-on-celebration-at-2008-sf-lgbt-pride-party.htmlDelta Force - Saturday Midnight at the New Beverly !<img src="http://www.amoeba.com/dynamic-images/content/new-beverly/myspace-logo.jpg" alt="" />
<p> <font size="+1">Amoeba Music and Phil Blankenship are proud to present some of our film favorites at Los Angeles&rsquo; last full-time revival movie theater. See movies the way they're meant to be seen - <bold>on the big screen and with an audience!</bold></font></p>
<p><font size="+1"> <hr />
<img width="200" align="right" src="http://a888.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/64/l_d112f906581e8d2d1d945bfaa82f51e7.jpg" alt="" /> </font></p>
<p><font size="+1"><u>Saturday July 5</u></font></p>
<p><font size="+1"> Chuck Norris <br />
&amp; Lee Marvin in</font></p>
<p> <u><font size="+2">The Delta Force</font></u> </p>
<p><font size="+1">1986, Cannon Films </font></p>
<p><font size="+1">New Beverly Cinema <br />
</font></p>
<p><font size="+1">7165 W Beverly Blvd <br />
</font></p>
<p><font size="+1">Los Angeles, CA 90036 <br />
</font></p>
<p><font size="+1">Midnight, $7 </font></p>
<p> <object height="344" width="425" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="never" allownetworking="internal" data="http://www.youtube.com/v/0U0G9OT_yq4&amp;hl=en">
<param name="allowScriptAccess" value="never" />
<param name="allowNetworking" value="internal" />
<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/0U0G9OT_yq4&amp;hl=en" /> </object> </p>
<p> </p>
<hr />
<font size="+1"><u>July</u><br />
July 5 The Delta Force</font><br />
(celebrate Independence Day weekend - watch Lee Marvin &amp; Chuck Norris kick terrorist BUTT in the Cannon Films classic!)<br />
<font size="+1">July 19 Just One Of The Guys</font><br />
(Sony's LAST 35mm print of the ultimate '80s role reversal comedy!)<br />
<font size="+1">July 26 Chopping Mall</font><br />
(w/ special guests director Jim Wynorski &amp; star Kelli Maroney in attendance, schedules permitting)
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p> <font size="+1"><u>August</u><br />
August 2 Night Of The Juggler</font><br />
(No one can stop James Brolin!)<br />
<font size="+1">August 9 Rainbow Brite &amp; The Star Stealer</font><br />
(Rainbow Brite's first movie - insanely RARE performance!)<br />
<font size="+1">August 23 The Gate</font><br />
(... pray it's not too late!)<br />
<font size="+1">August 30 Little Darlings</font><br />
(Paramount Archive 35mm Print! Rare Screening!)</p>
<a href="http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3Lm5ld2JldmNpbmVtYS5jb20=" target="_new"> </a>
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Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:02:47 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/video-maniacs/primal-scream.htmlDOES CALIFORNIA'S NEW HANDHELD CELL PHONE BAN MAKE SENSE?<img width="250" height="318" align="left" src="http://www.amoeba.com/admin/uploads/blog/driving-on-cell-phone-and-eating-1.jpg" style="border: 8px solid white;" alt="" /><br />
As you no doubt already know, today (July 1st) is the first day of a new law in California: the law banning the use of handheld wireless phones while driving. Drivers caught breaking this new law can be fined $20 for the first offense and $50 for subsequent times. <br />
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Note that It is okay to use cell phones with a hands-free device, such as a Blue Tooth, while talking, although both ears cannot be covered at any time. Using a handheld telephone&rsquo;s speaker function is also allowed, but dialing while driving is not allowed. <br />
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And if you are under 18 then you may not use any phone (or any other electronic device, period) while driving. Below, courtesy of <a href="http://www.dmv.ca.gov/cellularphonelaws/index.htm">California's DMV, </a>are answers to the most commonly asked questions about this new law.<br />
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But does this law actually make any sense? I think not, because a phone is a phone, and the danger to driving lies not in the type of communication device (handheld or ear-piece) that you are using but rather in the distraction of having a phone conversation while driving.<br />
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Instead of a handheld phone, a driver's hands could as easily be holding a map or an apple or a cup of coffee or adjusting the radio volume etc., rather than holding the steering wheel. The distracting thing about phone use while driving isn't so much about holding the thing in your hand, but rather how being caught up in a deep phone conversation can be so consuming that it momentarily takes your mind elsewhere and away from the road in front of you.<br />
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So I say either let everyone talk on the phone (handheld or other) while driving, or else ban car phone use altogether. And don't discriminate against under 18 year olds: treat everyone you allow to drive equally. Do you agree or disagree? Add your opinion in the &quot;comments&quot; box&nbsp; down below the DMV's answers to the most commonly asked questions regarding this new law. <br />
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Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:29:00 GMThttp://www.amoeba.com/rss-link/blog/2008/07/jamoeblog/does-california-s-new-handheld-cell-phone-ban-make-sense-.html